Full text of "The American naturalist."

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AMERICAN NATURALIST, 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



A. S. PACKARD, Jr., and EDWARD D. COPE. 



Dr. ELLIOTT COUES, Department of 
Prof. O. T. MASON, Department of A 
ELLIS H. YARNALL, Dep. 
Dr. R. H. WARD, Department of M 



VOLUME XIV. 



JUNIO 



CONTENTS. 



a sk r etc m h ^o to ^Sdi C sS<STa ZrSvSi T'2 Fre ' ierick *"'""' 




... - 


m* 


.... 


The Convolution of the Trachea in the Sandhill and Whooping 






















C™- g Arnb e ,. Ej.innieA.Snu 










A Sketch of Comparath >■ Embryology ( II -Fertilzation of the 


— 








7. 0.< 


• ' JJJ 


ES^S^L^^ .: SSE 


£. ! 




^t; n eaX in h ?7^?.^.^!T.im*m&** 










A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. (IV.-The Emhryo.ogy ^^ ^^ 


»-. 




f-.st of the Birds of the Willamette valley, Oregon 


««$,< 


















English Birds compared with American H.DMin*.... 


• ■ 5 " 



e Philadelphia Academy, j8, 






438 ; Sketches of the Physical Geography and Geology c 
jhlets, 441 ; The Geology of Wisconsin, 508 ; Mr. Kingsley - 












7 Asclepiad Plant (Physiar 






(Symphyla), 375 : Not 



ype, 531 ; Zoological Notes, 
toma, 594 i Notes on Myriopc 



, S04; Do Flying Fish Fly, 8.4; Flights of "Flics:' 
wisting of Spiral Shells, 806 ; The Young of the Crustac. 



' Polyxenes fasciculatus, 811; Zoologies 






Contents. 

■ Anthropological News, 455 ; Bibliography, 456 i Syphili: 



e Geology of the Lower Valley of the Delaware, 819 ; Origin of Coral Reefs a 
e " Comptes Rendus Stenographiques," 820 ; Geological News, 821 ; The D 



;ust, 1879, 686 ; The Royal Geogl ft] to Lakes Nyassa 

, 748; The Franklin Scan h Expedition, ;- 1 ; Howgate Expedition, 824; Col. 






THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xiv. — JANUARY, 1880. — No. 1. 



OBSERVATIONS UPON THE HABITS, STRUCTURE 
AND DEVELOPMENT OF AMPHIOXUS LANCE- 
OLATUS. 

BY HENRY J. RICE. 

PREVIOUS to last season, specimens of that very curious fish- 
like animal, Amphioxus lanccolatus Yarrell, had been dis- 
covered along the eastern coast of the United States only in 
Florida and North Carolina, and one specimen, according to Mr. 
P. R. Uhler, president of the Maryland Academy of Science, upon 
the Eastern Shore of Virginia. While engaged in laboratory 
work at the Chesapeake Zoological Laboratory, at Fort Wool, 
last summer (1878), I was fortunate enough to obtain possession 
of three adults — two males and a ripe female — and twenty speci- 
mens of the young of this very interesting species, thus making 
Fort Wool not only a new locality for the adult animal, but, 
so far as I am aware, the only place in America where the young 
have ever been captured. 

Of these specimens the adults were taken with the dredge from 
the bottom of the bay, south and east of the fort, in a depth of 
water of from twelve to fifteen feet, and the young were secured 
by surface dredging with small hand-nets of bolting cloth, from 
around the wharf, and near the steps of the boat-landing. 
While they remained alive, which was during the greater part of 
the months of July and August, I had the opportunity of making 
a very interesting series of observation, in regard to their habits, 
and those peculiarities of structure and development which have 
drawn so much attention to this animal, and rank it as at least the 
lowest of vertebrates, if not an intermediate type between Vertex 
brata and Invertebrata. These investigations, the results of which 



2 Obscnmtions upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

I have embodied in the following necessarily incomplete sum- 
mary of our present knowledge of Amphioxus, were conducted 
With a great deal of care, and while they have fed me to differ 
from the commonly received views in regard to certain particu- 
lars of structure and development, they have enabled me, by a 
somewhat detailed comparison of results, to corroborate much o_f 
what has already been done in this important field of research. 

History. — This apparently insignificant little creature was first 
made known to science, in the year 1778, from specimens found 
upon the coast of Cornwall, England, and sent to Peter Simon 
Pallas, a celebrated German naturalist, who was then issuing his 
Record of new forms of animal life. The description given in 
this Record 1 is, in the main, quite accurate, but from some mi^in- 
derstanding of the nature of the ventral ridges, or perhaps fi%m 
' some slight resemblance to a sea-slug, Pallas considered it a new 
species of snail, and named it Limax lanceolatus. Had he had 
the opportunity of examining other than contracted specimens of 
this new form, he probably would not have written, " Tentacles 
evidently none," and might have hesitated before placing it 
among the Limacidae. But if Pallas failed to correctly estimate its 
generic features, the next writer who mentions it 2 seems to have 
been able to appreciate them to a certain extent, for he remarks,, 
that it is " hardly a Limax," although for some reason he retained 
this name, and adds to it, probably through some typographical 
error the specific term of lanceolaris, which ought only to accom- 
pany the genitive of Limax, or Limacis. After this notice by 
Stewart, Limax lanceolatus seems to have dropped from the 
vocabulary of zoologists and to have passed almost from the 
memory of those engaged in describing and classifying new spe- 
cies of animals, for in 1834, when Costa 3 discovered this same 
animal in the Bay of Naples, Italy, he tailed to recognize it as 
having been described before, and considering it a new species of 
fish, he named it fh-anctiiostoiua iul-ncum, from the fact of its 
having tentacles about the mouth, and upon the supposition that 
these tentacles subserved the purposes of respiration as branchiae 

Napoli, 1843. ° 



l88o.] Development of Amphioxus Lanceolatus. 3 

Almost simultaneously with this discovery of Costa, it was redis- 
covered , upon the coast of Cornwall by Mr. Couch, and was 
recognized by Mr. Yarrell as the Limax lanceolatus of Pallas. 
But Mr. Yarrell also recognized as Costa had already done, and 
thus corroborating the doubts of Stewart, that instead of being a 
Limax it was, in reality, closely allied to the class of fishes, and 
not aware of its discovery in Italy, by Costa, he erected a new 
genus for it, Amphioxus (Amphi, on both sides, and oxus, sharp, 
from the fact that both extremities are pointed), and described it 
in 1836 1 as Amphioxus lanceolatus. It will thus be seen that the 
generic name assigned it by Costa has priority over that instituted 
by Yarrell, but the term Branchiostoma being founded upon a 
misconception of the functions of the tentacles, and the specific 
name of Pallas having priority over all, the name as given by 
Yarrell, Amp.. lias come, by common consent, to 

be adopted as the appellation of this small denizen of the sea. 
Since 1836 Amphioxus has been found inhabiting nearly every 
quarter of the globe, specimens having been taken in China, Bor- 
neo, South as well as North America, and along the entire coast 
of Europe, although it has been found most abundantly in the 
waters of the Mediterranean sea, near Naples and Messina, Italy, 
where at present the conditions seem to be most favorable for 
its propagation and growth. 

These various specimens, coming from such widely separated 
localities, were supposed, by their discoverers, to represent dis- 
tinct species of this animal, and specific names have accordingly 
been given them, as Ampin >.\ /.s /..'• \ n Gray, for the East Indian 
form, and Branchiostoma caribceum Sundeval, for the form upon 
our coast, but the best informed European systematists consider' 
that all these forms represent but a single species, 2 the A. lanceo- 
latus Yarr., of Europe, which thus becomes one of the most 
widely distributed, as it is certainly one of the most anomalous 
of existing animals. 3 

iHist. of Brit. Fishes. Wm. Yarrell. Vol. II, p. 468. London, 1836. 

2 Trait* de Zodljgie. Page 808. Paris, 1878. Translated by Prof. G. Moquin, 



sine the two (onus < 



4 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

General Description and Habits. — The adult Amphioxus, Fig. I, 
PI. i, is a small, rather slender animal, which lives for tha greater 
part of the time entirely buried in the sand along the sandy 
portions of the shores which it inhabits. When fully grown it is 
about two inches in extreme length, rarely somewhat longer, and 
of a pale flesh color which changes, when seen by reflected 
light, to a beautiful display of metallic iridescence. 

Its body is smooth, very muscular, much compressed from side 
to side, and tapers gradually to the extremities, which are pointed, 
but differ considerably in contour, for while the posterior is lance- 
shaped, from whence is derived the specific name of lanccolatus, 
the anterior is formed like the ram of a modern gun-boat, and is 
admirably well adapted for forcing a way through the sand in 
which it burrows. The abdominal portion of this blade-like struc- 
ture forms a dilatable sack which extends from near the anterior 
end of the body back for about two-thirds the entire length of 
the animal, where it terminates in an opening, the abdominal pore 
or branchiopore, which places the cavity enclosed by the sack in 
communication with the exterior. During the life of the animal 
this abdominal sack is seen dilating and contracting quite regu- 
larly, although at rather lengthy intervals, with a wave-like 
motion which begins at the forward end of the cavity and travels 
backward, rather slowly, to the posterior extremity. When the 
sack is completely distended this portion of the body presents a 
full, clear, rounded appearance, and projects considerably below 
the ordinary ventral outline, but when contracted, as it is in all 
preserved specimens, all appearances of a cavity disappear, leaving 
merely a slight indentation where the " pore " is situated, between 
the abdominal and the tail portions. 

Through the center of the muscular part of the body, and 
forming an axial support to the animal, there is a long, slender, 
semi-cartilaginous rod, which is pointed at each end, and which 
extends from the very point of one extremity to that of the other. 
This rod is composed of an external membraneous sheath enclos- 
ing a series of closely approximated flattened disk-like bodies, and 
is probably the homologue of the vertebrate notochord, or back- 
bone, although not exhibiting any anterior cranial expansion. 
Above it, but not extending quite as far forward, is the main nervous 
system, or chorda dorsalis, and below it lies the long, nearly straight 
alimentary canal. This canal opens anteriorly by a longitudinal 



1880.] Development of Amphioxus Lanceolatns. 5 

aperture, the mouth, placed upon the median, ventral line just 
behind the depressed ram-like termination of the body, and 
between it and the anterior portion of the abdominal cavity. This 
oral opening is of moderate size, and is surrounded by about 
thirty-one tentacles which are moderately long and slender, and 
bear upon their sides little protuberances which give them a 
toothed appearance. The anus, or outlet of the canal, is funnel- 
shaped, and opens very eccentrically upon the left side of the 
body just beneath the level of the notochord and quite near the 
end of the tail. The left or free edge of this aperture does not 
extend at its posterior limits quite down to the ventral edge of 
the muscle-plates, so that the anus also opens, to a certain extent, 
towards the left side of the body, although the fceces are expelled 
directly backwards and downwards along the side of the median 
fin. This free edge is quite flexible and in hardened specimens 
is so contracted, together with the surrounding parts, that the 
anal aperture appears to open into a pseudo-cloaca. The integu- 
ment, which forms the greater part of the mouth tentacles, is thin 
and nearly transparent, and expands along the entire length of the 
dorsum, and around the tail, and as far forward as the branch- 
iopore, into a delicate, median fin of nearly uniform width except 
upon the edges near the posterior extremity, where two unequal 
lobes are formed which represent the blades of this " lance" ter- 
mination. Of these two " blades " the ventral is the larger, and 
its posterior curvature is nearly below the anal opening of the 
intestine. The integument also forms two longitudinal folds, 
which extend along either side of the abdomen, from the poste- 
rior portion of the mouth orifice where they originate, to the 
indentation which exists between the abdominal and the tail 
portions. Here, after forming a sort of triangular pit into which 
the branchiopore opens, they become merged into the median, 
ventral fin, which, as already stated, reaches forward to this 
point. When the abdomen is fully extended these folds be- 
come nearly obliterated, and are barely visible as lines running 
along the sides parallel to and at some distance above the ven- 
tral outline; but when the abdomen is strongly contracted 
they form prominent ridges along the lower edge of the body, 
and so change the appearance of the specimen that it is not 
much to be wondered at that Pallas should say, that this por- 
tion looked " very much like the very narrow foot of a snaih" 



6 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

These folds are hollow and have been thought, until quite 
recently, to have an opening at either extremity, but Prof. Ray Lan- 
kester denies 1 that there are any such openings, and I have failed to 
obtain any evidence from my specimens that any such apertures 
exist. With the exception of these side-folds and the mouth 
tentacles, the integument presents no appendages whatsoever. Ex- 
ternal sense-organs are also wanting, except upon the left side of 
the body near the anterior end of the chorda dorsalis, where 
a small ciliated pit is said to be located which it is claimed, by 
Kolliker, 2 its discoverer, and others, represents a nasal depression, 
or cavity. I have not been able to make out this pit, and even if 
it is present, it is probable, that these animals gain their impres- 
sions of external objects entirely by the general sense of touch. 

The adults, while varying somewhat in size, as is the case with 
most adult animals, do not differ very much otherwise in general 
appearance except during the breeding season, when the female 
becomes filled with ova, and the abdominal portion becomes, in 
consequence, much larger than ordinary. At this period the ova 
show very plainly as a row of large white spots along either side 
of the animal, Fig. I, PI. i, but at other times, and in the males, 
there are no such spots visible to the naked eye. These differ- 
ences of size and sexual appearance were well marked in my 
specimens, for while they varied in length from i^th to iyVth 
inches, thus being of rather small size, the female, which was the 
largest, was so distended with ova that her body was much 
rounder, and consequently more opaque in appearance than the 
bodies of the thinner males. The young, Fig. 5, PI. 1, and 
Fig. 7, PI. M, resemble the adults very much in outline, but differ 
in many points of structure, which will be noticed in treating of 
their development, and in being quite transparent, looking much 
like animated bits of isinglass when in the water. This trans- 
parency, however, gradually gives place, as they grow old, to a 
semi-opaque condition which permits the outline of different parts 
to be made out, but not with any great degree of distinctness 
unless under a very strong light, and the older and larger the speci- 
men, as a matter of course, the less the distinctness. The young 
specimens varied in length from T \th to T Vh of an inch, although 
the greater number were about ftth of an inch long. 

Quar. Jour, of Micro. Science. Vol. 15, p. 257, 1875. 
* Muller's Arkiv, p. 32. Berlin, 1843. 



1 880.] Development of Amphioxus Lanecolalus. 7 

All of the above-mentioned specimens which came into my 
possession, were gathered together during the period from the 
9th of July, when the first specimen, an adult, was obtained, to 
the 2d or 3d of August, after which date no more could be found. 
The young were taken mostly at night, one or more at a time, 
when the water was comparatively quiet, but the greatest number 
captured on any one occasion was at noon of a very hot day, 
when there was scarcely a breath of wind, and the surface of the 
bay was almost as smooth as the proverbial " sheet of glass ;" 
these small inhabitants thus seeming to be affected by heat, and 
especially by a quiet condition of the water, in very much such 
a manner as are the myriads of other young animals which are 
floated hither and thither by the currents of the sea at this sea- 
son of the year. As soon as taken they were transferred to 
tumblers which had been previously filled with fresh sea-water, 
and each tumbler was generally occupied by four or five speci- 
mens. The water was changed daily in all the vessels. When 
first placed in these receptacles they darted about with a quick 
" wiggling " motion which resembled somewhat the movement 
of a tadpole, but different in that the head, or anterior part of the 
body, moved from side to side as far and as vigorously as the 
tail portion. This peculiar undulation was generally kept up for 
some litfle time at or near the surface, when suddenly they would 
cease all motion and allow themselves to sink slowly to the bot- 
tom, where they would remain flat upon their sides until again 
impelled to action. When this impulse came, from whatever 
cause, and they were once started from their resting place at the 
bottom, they generally swam directly upward to the surface, moved 
about here for a short time, and then, as before, suddenly stopped 
and allowed themselves to sink again to the bottom. But some- 
times one of the inhabitants of a dish would start up, seemingly 
impelled by some willful freak, dash about close over the bottom 
and stir up all the others in the vessel, when there would be, for a 
moment or so, quite a brilliant display of undulating, flashing 

The largest of these young specimens was pretty well advanced 
in development, and was placed in a separate dish which had a 
layer of sand upon the bottom. It was thus isolated for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining if it would make use of the sand as a place 
of refuge, but only on one or two occasions, and then for very 



8 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

brief periods, did it ever disappear beneath the surface. Gener- 
ally it lay flat upon the top of the sand, until disturbed from its 
repose, when its actions closely resembled those of its smaller 
fellows. Hence it must be at a later period of life than that to 
which this one had attained, that these little animals cease to be 
shifted about by the flood and ebb of changing currents, and 
become " burrowers." The adults, which were taken from the 
banks by means of the dredge, were placed together in a large 
jar of sea-water, which was furnished, like the dish of the largest 
of the young animals, with a layer of sand upon the bottom. 
When once in the water they commenced swimming about very 
rapidly, with the same graceful, undulating motion which has 
been noticed as characteristic of the young, but with much 
greater vigor and elasticity. These movements were executed 
sometimes upon the back, sometimes upon the abdomen in the 
position of ordinary fishes, it seemed to make very little differ- 
ence which side was uppermost, but I have never seen them 
move backwards, or tail-end foremost. After circumnavigating the 
vessel once or twice, gradually moving slower and slower, they 
would stop and sink down upon the sand at the bottom. Gener- 
ally as soon as they touched the sand they would half-arch their 
bodies and almost instantaneously disappear from sight beneath 
the surface, thus regaining their natural place of refuge. After 
this disappearance they very rarely entirely emerged from their 
retreat, and as a rule, not at all during the day time. But if the 
surface of the sand was carefully examined at night, little spots 
might be detected where the sand appeared less compact than 
elsewhere, and a close inspection would discover each such spot 
to be a network of crossing tentacles arching over the expanded 
mouth cavity of one of these animals, which was thus, while 
lying belly upwards buried in the sand with only its mouth 
exposed at the surface, busily engaged in drawing its food from 
the water above. 

Sometimes they could be found so situated during the day 
time, and now and then both by day and night, but rarely in the 
day time, one or more of them could be seen protruding part 
way from the sand, and looking as if planted in this position, but 
a tap or a motion of the vessel would cause them to withdraw 
from sight immediately. 

These actions would seem to indicate what is probably a fact, 



l88o.] Developing >;! oj . laipli; u v>- Lanccolatus. 9 

that the day time is to these animals a period of rest, when they 
remain entirely buried beneath the surface, and night time a 
period of activity, when they come up to feed and perhaps to 
move from place to place, as they have been seen swimming 
about during the night in the aquarium at the Zoological Station 
at Naples, and on one or two occasions I have found, early in the 
morning, one of my specimens lying entirely out of the sand, 
fully exposed to view, and in all probability it had been swim- 
ming about during the night. 

On account of the propensity of these animals to remain con- 
cealed from sight it was necessary, whenever they were wanted 
for examination, to drive them from the sand, and this was by no 
means an easy task, as they are such exceedingly active little 
beasts that they would work their way from side to side of the 
dish beneath the sand, very nearly as quickly as I could run a 
stick or pencil through it in trying to find their position. And 
when once forced out, they would dart through the water so 
impetuously, and plunge into the sand again so quickly that 
their movement seemed merely a flash in the water, and a few 
particles of floating sand and mud would alone indicate that one 
of them had been out of their proper domain. Generally this 
chasing process had to be repeated four or five times, when they 
would become exhausted, and after undulating about the jar very 
slowly for a moment or so, they would sink upon the sand and 
remain perfectly quiet, flat upon their sides, for sometimes half a 
day at a time. During these intervals they could be transferred 
from dish to dish and even placed under a low power of the micro- 
scope for examination. But if not completely exhausted a short 
rest would revive them, and then, when touched, they would dash 
away as impetuously as ever, and I have had them, on such 
occasions, rush out of the water and over the broad rim of a 
large plate on to the table, and before they could be touched, 
much less secured, throw themselves off the table and down upon 
the floor. But the adults appear to be so vigorous that these 
falls, which occurred on two different occasions, did not seem to 
have the least injurious effect. As may be surmised from this, 
all their movements are exceedingly quick, and this rapidity in 
going through sand and water, and hence the ease with which 
they can move about from place to place, is probably the reason 
why we secured only three of these animals at Fort Wool. 



10 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

We made a large number of dredgings but the dredge used was 
too coarse and heavy for such work, and as we had had no idea of 
finding Amphioxus at this place, we were unprovided with one of 
suitable construction. It is probable that with a proper dredge, 
perhaps a ring dredge, made light and with fine meshes, they 
could be taken in this locality in fair numbers, and it is possible 
that places might be found along our coast, if searched for, where 
they could be taken in as great abundance as at Naples and Mes- 
sina, in Italy. And where the adults are found the young could 
be taken also, if looked for during the breeding season, which in 
this country is probably during the months of June and July. I 
base this statement upon 'the facts that my ypung specimens, 
which were somewhat advanced in development, were taken 
mostly during the second and third weeks of July, and that only 
one specimen could be secured after the close of that month. 
Amphioxus does not appear to be a difficult animal to keep if 
supplied with plenty of sand in which to burrow, and a daily 
change of water of a density equal to that which is found at the 
place of its capture, My adults remained alive and appeared to 
be in fine condition as long as I could give them water which 
came in fresh from the sea every day, but in September they were 
carried up the bay to Tangier's sound, where being unable to 
supply them with suitable water they soon showed unmistakable 
signs of debility, and on the ioth inst. they were placed in picric 
acid to be ready for future service. None of the young remained 
alive as long as did the adults, and only a few grew so well and 
appeared so vigorous as to indicate that they would reach 
maturity. Some of them, from some cause, became dwarfed and 
drawn out of shape so as to look, in one or two cases, like a large 
letter S, and others, probably, from the erosive or wearing action 
of bits of sand, or something of the kind, which had entered the 
stomach and intestines along with the food, had lost portions, and 
sometimes half of their bodies, and yet these little deformed and 
maimed animals lived sometimes for a week in such condition, 
evincing certainly a good degree of vitality, and enabling us, if 
Amphioxus is really one of the earliest of animals, the better to 
appreciate the " why and the wherefore" of the persistence of 
this species to present time. 

The Skeleton. — The framework of Amphioxus is entirely car- 
tilaginous, and is composed of the notochord ; a series of processes 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus Lanceolatus. 1 1 

said to represent spinous processes, which extend along nearly 
the entire length of the dorsum, and along the ventral side of the 
tail portion of the animal ; and a series of arches or supports 
which are formed along and in the sides of the anterior half of 
the alimentary canal. The notochord has already been described, 
and its position denned as forming an axial support extending 
from end to end of the body, and representing the back bone of 
higher vertebrates, but lacking the anterior expansion or brain 
case. The spinous processes form rows of semi-transparent, per- 
pendicularly placed, block-like bodies ; the dorsal row origi- 
nating over the chorda dorsalis, and rising upwards from between 
the side muscles to form a median basal support to the dorsal 
fin ; and the ventral row originating beneath the intestine and 
extending out from between the side-muscles to form a support 
to that portion of the median fin which extends from the branchio- 
pore back to the ventral "blade." of the tail. These blocks are 
well marked, and form quite a prominent border to the greater 
part of the outline of the muscular portion of the body. (Figs. I 
and 5, PI. i, and Fig. 7, PI. 11.) The series of bodies pertaining to 
the alimentary canal consist of a mouth ring, a pharyngeal ring 
and a variable number of rib-like arches placed alternately upon 
either side of the canal and extending back to about the middle 
of the body. These different parts are unconnected above, unless 
it may be to a slight extent with the sheath of the notochord, 
but below, the two rings, which arise from a common base, are 
connected with the arches by a cartilaginous trough-like forma- 
tion which extends back as far as the last arch, and in the sides 
of which the bases of the arches are firmly imbedded. The 
mouth ring is formed in the integument of the edges of the 
mouth orifice, and arches forward and upward in conformity to 
the outline of this portion of the body. It is made up of seg- 
ments, one for each tentacle, and each segment sends out from 
the side, at the anterior end, a long, slender prolongation which 
extends, as a central support, to the very tip of its corresponding 
tentacle. (Fig. 2, PI. 1.) These segments, which are the same in 
number upon both sides of the mouth, do not unite in front, but 
form arms which end upon either side just at the base of the ram- 
like extremity of the body, and at these terminations of the 
" ring " new segments are formed, when, in the growth of the 
animal, there is room in the oral circlet for additional tentacles. 



1 2 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

The odd tentacle which is found in the mouth circlet of 
Amphioxus, is formed from the center of the basal portion of 
cartilage from which the two rings originate. The cartilaginous 
portions of all these tentacles are curved inward, and so directed 
that the tentacles in the normal condition always cross each 
other, much as the fingers of a person's hands can be interlaced, 
and thus form a rude sieve which prevents the entrance of large 
substances into the digestive tract. The pharyngeal ring which 
marks off the anterior limits of the abdominal cavity, forms a 
sort of welt or slight constriction around the inside of the ante- 
rior portion of the alimentary canal. It is curved backwards 
upon both sides, and bears upon the posterior border of each 
curved portion two or three rather large fleshy-looking tentacles. 
(Fig. 2, PI. i.) These tentacles generally lie directed backwards 
against the side walls of the digestive tract, but they can be brought 
forward so as to extend directly across the canal and form a sec- 
ond barrier to the onward progress of large bodies. In the young 
this barrier is of much greater service in preventing entrance to 
the digestive tract than the oral tentacles, as these latter appen- 
dages are not sufficiently numerous to act as an efficient guard 
until the animal is of considerable size, as large or larger than the 
largest of my young specimens. These tentacles are not always 
of the same size, and are generally so placed upon the sides that 
when brought forward they alternate one above the other. 

The branchial arches are frame-like in structure, long and 
slender in outline, and run obliquely downwards and backwards 
across the entire width of the canal — this obliquity is such that 
the center of the upper portion of one arch is about over the 
center of the lower part of the next arch in front. The arches 
are quite numerous, fifty, more or less, upon each side, but I am 
not aware that there is any definite limit to their number, the 
largest individual appearing to have the most arches. The greater 
number of them are of uniform length, but as they approach their 
posterior limits they gradually become shorter and shorter, to the 
last one or two, which are less than a quarter the length of the 
longest ones. The first and second arches are also much shorter 
than the others, and are about the length of the last ones. The 
first and last arches arc very simple in formation. The first is 
composed of an oblong framework, pointed at the lower end and 
nearly square or somewhat pointed at the upper. It is about 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus Lanceolatus. 13 

twice as long as broad, almost upright in position, and is placed 
just posterior to the lower curvature of the pharyngeal ring. The 
last one is merely a round or nearly round ring of cartilage. The 
rest of the arches are shaped much like the first, but are bi-lobed 
above and have a central bar which passes from the indentation 
of the bi-lobed end down to the cartilaginous bed which encloses 
the pointed lower extremity. This bar is about twice as wide as 
either side of the arch, and is marked throughout its entire 
length by a median line which indicates a division into two slen- 
der halves. In all of the longer arches there are also three cross- 
bars, which pass from side to side of the arch at about equal 
distances between the two ends, and in the shorter arches, except- 
the first and last, which contain none, there are sometimes one, 
sometimes two of these bars in each arch. These bars pass 
obliquely backwards and upwards across the arch, and generally 
go directly from one side to the other, but some of them divide 
at the central bar and become attached to it, so that they form 
two short bars instead of one long one. The arches of each side 
are placed close together, edge to edge, so that they have the 
appearance of a connected, continuous series of long slender 
oblique bars, each marked by a median division line and sepa- 
rated by a space of about the same width as the bars themselves, 
and with cross-bars running, with more or less regularity, across 
these spaces from alternate bars. The upper edge presents a 
series of uniform lobes, and the lower edge a series of larger 
uniform arched points, there being left between each two points 
a triangular space of considerable size. (Fig. 4, PI. 1, a.) Each 
complete arch is thus made up of two nearly similar halves, and 
as the arches of the two sides alternate with each other, as has 
already been said, the triangular spaces at the bases of the arches 
not only serve to show the divisions between them, but also indi- 
cate the positions of the opposite arches. This alternation can 
be readily seen by placing an adult animal, when living, under a 
low power of the microscope, or by a careful dissection of this 
portion of the body. 

The Digestive Tract. — The alimentary canal, which extends 
along beneath nearly the entire length of the notochord, is some- 
what compressed from side to side, varies considerably in breadth 
in different parts, and is lined throught its entire length with cilia 
which serve by their action to draw food into the canal for the 



14 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

nourishment of the animal. The canal may be divided into five 
rather natural divisions; the mouth cavity, extending from the 
mouth orifice to the pharyngeal ring ; the pharynx, the oesoph- 
agus and the stomach, extending from the pharyngeal ring to 
the division between the abdomen and tail, and which hang from 
their attachment beneath the notochord freely suspended in the 
abdominal cavity, being completely enclosed by its walls ; and 
the intestine, which extends along through the tail portion of the 
animal to the anus, near the posterior extremity. The mouth 
cavity, or first division of the canal, is somewhat triangular in 
shape, being circumscribed above by the notochord, and below 
and behind by the two orifices already mentioned. Its anterior 
upper outline is curved, and it bears upon its walls certain slight, 
finger-like ridges where the cilia of this cavity are principally 
aggregated. 

At the rather constricted opening of the pharyngeal ring it 
merges into the pharynx, which extends a little past the middle 
of the abdominal cavity, and is the largest division of the canal. 
This portion is that in which the branchial arches are formed, and 
has much the shape of a bean pod, being quite broad along the 
central part and narrower towards each end, but the posterior 
extremity tapers much more gradually than the anterior, and where 
it merges into the oesophagus, it is hardly more than half the size 
of the portion at the pharyngeal ring. Along its sides, in all the 
spaces between the bars of the branchial arches, there are long 
narrow openings, called branchial slits, which place the interior 
of the pharynx in communication with the abdominal cavity, 
which is also known as the branchial cavity, or atrium, but which 
might more properly, perhaps, as will be noted later on, be 
called the branchium. These branchial slits extend, with few ex- 
ceptions, from the upper curves down through nearly the entire 
length of the arches, to the edges of the cartilaginous, trough- 
like bed, being crossed here and there by the cross-bars which 
serve to stiffen the general framework. In the first two or three 
arches the clefts do not extend quite to the upper borders. Along 
the inner edges of these slits the cilia of the pharynx are very 
long and arranged in rows completely encircling each slit (Fig. 4» 
PI. i), so that by their action they intercept the food particles 
which are brought into the canal and which might pass through 
the slits and drive them onward towards the stomach, but allow 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus Lanceolatus. 15 

the greater portion of the water, in which the food is brought 
into the canal, to escape into the branchium and be forced, by the 
contraction of the walls of this cavity, out through the branchio- 
pore once more into the surrounding medium. The aesophagtis 
is a short narrow portion of the canal, and leads from the pharynx 
directly into the stomach, which enlarges considerably in diame- 
ter, and extends straight back to the end of the branchium. Its 
walls are rather thicker than those of the other portions of the 
canal, and upon the inside the cilia are disposed in such a man- 
ner that when in motion they force the particles of food, which 
come into the receptacle, into a long rope-like body, and then 
cause this food-rope to revolve and twist about until all the 
nutriment and shape is twisted out of the component particles 
and the refuse material is forced on into the intestine. The food 
consists of diatoms, algae and most any bit of organic material, 
plant or animal, which is floating in the water in the neighbor- 
hood of the animals, and which can succeed in passing the 
guards and entering the stomach, and if a young animal is taken 
and placed in some water under the microscope, the entrance of 
these particles into the canal and their gradual grinding up as 
they get into this vortex of the stomach, can be readily seen 
through the nearly transparent tissue, and well repays a little time 
spent in such observations. Ordinarily these little bits — animals 
or plants — sail along down the canal without any hindrance from 
the guards, and as they approach the end of the " rope," they 
commence rotating slowly about the sides, often, in the case of 
animals, making uncertain efforts to escape, until after rolling 
around for a time they are gradually pressed into the mass and 
twisted on to make room for the others which are continually 
floating in from the outside. Sometimes a long piece of an alga, or 
partially decayed bit of organic material, is drawn by the power- 
ful action of the cilia, with a quick rush, against the mouth ori- 
fice or into the mouth cavity ; then, with a motion which seems 
nearly instantaneous, the pharyngeal tentacles are brought for- 
ward with a sudden flap, the mouth aperture is widely distended, 
and the offending substance is thrown out of the body together 
with the water which was in the mouth cavity, after which the 
tentacles return to their normal position along the sides of the 
pharynx. This action is often repeated four or five times before 
the object is gotten rid of, as the action of the cilia tends to 



1 6 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 

draw the substance back again immediately into the mouth, and 
at times, after all this labor to get rid of a substance, it finally 
succeeds in eluding the tentacles, which flag in their activity after 
a few efforts, and passes on down the canal. From the "k>wer 
anterior portion of the stomach there is given off a long, sjender 
saccular diverticulum which extends forward along the lower 
portion of the right side of the pharynx to about the middle of this 
part of the body, where it is attached by one or two bands to the 
bars of the branchial arches, and perhaps to the side muscles, 
Fig. 3, PI. i. This organ is considered to represent the liver. It 
is of a dark-green or brown color, which is probably due to pig- 
ment cells in its walls. The walls of the stomach are also 
colored, but not so deeply as those of this saccular liver. All 
this portion of the alimentary canal, including the pharynx, oesoph- 
agus and stomach, is covered with a delicate membrane which 
is reflected from the inside of the abdominal walls, and forms 
along the roof of the branchium, on either side of the canal, 
a true pleuro -peritoneal cavity, or schizoccele, which extends 
back quite to the end of the digestive tract. The intestine 
forms the posterior portion of the alimentary canal, and passes 
in a perfectly direct course from the stomach to the hind end 
of the body. It is much smaller than any other portion of 
the canal, and is of uniform diameter except at the posterior 
extremity where it enlarges to form the funnel-shaped outlet of 
the anus. It is not known at present time whether the cilia 
along the course of the alimentary canal are continuously at work 
drawing in food, or whether they have periods of rest during 
which they are perfectly quiet. I have never seen them quiet 
except upon small patches and in weak animals, and then not for 
any great length of time, but the fact that the stomach and intes- 
tine are very frequently found devoid of food, or of all but a small 
, would seem to indicate that these animals 



are not always feeding, and this would imply that they can con- 
trol, in some manner, the action of the cilia. This would accord 
well with their habits, and would corroborate to a certain extent 
the statement already made, that they probably have feeding 
periods, during which they appear at or near the surface, and rest- 
ing spells, when they hide from sight. 

[To be concluded, ,] 



D.] Development oj Auiphioxus Lanceolatus. 17 




1 8 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [January, 




1880.] Development of Amphioxus Lanceolatus. 19 

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. 
The full length figures were drawn either from careful measurement of the parts 
of the animals, or with the assistance of a camera, so that the outlines may be con- 
sidered as very nearly, if not quite, correct. Under each of these figures is a line 
representing the length of the individual. 

Fig. r.— Adult female, I^ths inches in length, seen from the left side. The egg- 
cases are represented as squarish blocks attached beneath the body- muscles 
within the limits of the branchium, which is almost fully expanded. The 
branchial clefts are shown as oblique lines crossing the anterior portion of the 
pharynx. In this figure the anal opening is represented about ^ of an inch too 
far back, and, for want of space to make the lines clear and distinct throughout 
their entire length, the full number of muscle-plates at the ends of the body 
have not been indicated. 
Fig. 2.— The cartila-inuus pharyngeal ring with its tentacles and a portion of the 
branches of the mouth ring. The mouth ring shows the divisions of the 
branches into segments and the basal portion of the tentacular prolongations. 
Fig. 3. — View of the right side of a portion of the pharynx, showing the extent and 
position of il, ■ slender branches or bands which attach it 

Fig. 4. — Three of the branchial arches of the left side, shoving the central bars 
with their central division lino; the extent of the clefts in the length of each 
arch; the cilia lining the clefts; the triangular spaces, a, between the bases of 
the arches in which are formed the "branchial hearts" of the blood system, 
and the cross-bars, running from one side of the arches to the other, and acting 
as stiffeners to the cartilaginous framework. 

F1G.5.— Young animal, T \ds of an inch in length. The mouth aperture is an 
eccentric opening upon the left side and partially surrounded by the forming 
tentacles. The branchial arches are large and prominent, and seven in number, 
and the liver caecum is just forming from the central portion of the alimentary 

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. 

eal mouth aperture to the ciliated 1 
the anterior pharyngeal openings is caused by their position upon the right side 

Fig. 2.— Anearliei <wr ui ih, , imi - p >rtion of the body shown in Fig. i. Here the 
pharyngeal month aperture, the ciliated mouth cavity, and the cleft connecting 

Fig. 3. — Portion Bag the last bran- 

and showing the forming 1; le ventral blood vessel conform- 

FlG. 4. — An egg capsule with its quota of ova, very much enlarged. 

Fig. 5. — Diagram] | hioxus. Section 

mile through the pharyngeal mouth aperture and one of the pharyngeal clefts, 
as at a, Fig. 7, to show' the connection of these openings with the central canal, 

the figure, ought t<> be more sharply defined to represent one of the toothdike 



20 Sketch of North American Ornithology in 1879. [January, 

SKETCH OF NORTH AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 
IN 1879. 

BY DR. ELLIOTT COUES, U.S.A. 

SINCE the year 1858, memorable in our annals for the appear- 
ance of Baird's great work, which gave such an impetus to 
the study of birds in this country, and in the light of which a 
generation of ornithologists has grown up, activity in this depart- 
ment has been incessant ; and the workers in this field have never 
been more numerous or more in earnest than during the year just 
passed — one which, though marked in no especial manner, has 
witnessed a steady advance in the extent and in the precision of 
our ornithological knowledge. 

Foremost among the signs of the times stands the Bulletin of 
the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the fourth volume of which 
closed with 1879. Originating in the necessity which the Club 
experienced to have a medium of communication with the pub- 
lic, and edited by Mr. Allen with conspicuous ability, this periodi- 
cal soon secured firm foothold, and its success became assured. 
The magazine, devoted entirely to the technic of a branch of 
science, is phenomenal in the fact, that so special a publication 
has paid for itself from the start, and already doubled its size. 
It is a trite saying, though generally an untrue one, that such and 
such a publication " fills a real want," but this is actually the case 
here. Nearly all the working ornithologists of America record 
the progress of their affairs in the " Nuttall," so that if one 
wishes to know what has been found out since the appearance 
of the last formal treatise on our birds, he turns to the Bulletin 
with confidence. In fine, it answers in America to the English 
Ibis and the German Jo tr» >' /•> Ormthologie. It is, of course, 
impracticable to give here any analysis of its contents, and to 
mention a few leading papers would be: both invidious and unnec- 

It may not be so generally known that there is published at 
Utica, N. Y., by S. L. Willard, a bi-monthly periodical entitled 
The Oologist, devoted entirely to the nests, eggs and breeding 
habits of our birds. Beginning very modestly, The Oologist has 
more than held its own; several volumes are completed, the size 
has been enlarged, and the conduct of the periodical has become 
so workmanlike that the claims of this serial to general recogni- 

In the same connection we should not fail to notice the 



i88o.] Sketch of North A> nerica ••^79- 2I 

increasing attention paid to ornithology by several of the semi- 
scientific papers, notably Charles Hallock's Forest and Stream, of 
New York, and Dr. Rowe's The Field, of Chicago. Though of 
course dealing chiefly in game birds, the natural history depart- 
ment of these papers gives us a good deal of ornithological 
matter ; the articles are grown more shapely, with a smaller pro- 
portion of untitled, anonymous or otherwise " scrappy " pieces ; 
on the whole, these contributions rank with those of the London 
Field, and many of them are precisely of the character- of the 
shorter notes in the Nuttall Bulletin, or in Harting's Zoologist. 
In the case of Forest and Stream, we believe the commendable 
state of affairs to be largely due to the zeal and competence of 
Mr. George B. Grinnell, whose example in this particular is to be 
emulated. 

Science News, a fortnightly record of progress in science, estab- 
lished and edited in New York by W. C. Wykoff and Ernest In- 
gersoll, contains a fair proportion of ornithological matter. Among 
articles of 1879 may be noted Ingersoll's instructions for forming 
collections of nests and eggs, and a part of G. B. Sennett's expe- 
riences on the Rio Grande. We regret to learn that the publica- 
tion died with the year. 

The promptly-appearing and readily-available avenues of com- 
munication thus far mentioned have naturally absorbed most of 
the current items of ornithological information or entertainment 
for the year, less than formerly falling to the share of the Ameri- 
can Naturalist, and the slower or more irregular publications of 
scientific societies containing but few papers, all of a very techni- 

Leading these last comes the Proceedings of the U. S. Na- 
tional Museum, published by the Department of the Interior 
under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. The com- 
pleted first volume dates 1879, about half of it appearing in sheets 
in 1878. Here are found the complete results of Mr. F. A. 
Ober's Explorations in the Lesser Antilles, elaborated in a series 
of important papers by Mr. G. N. Lawrence. One paper on these 
collections was in Forest and Stream, and descriptions of several 
of Ober's new species are given in the Annals of the New York 
Academy of Science, but the whole matter is finally set forth in 
the publication in mention. The Proceedings also contain sev- 
eral important papers by R. Ridgway, on neotropical birds, 
describing new species, monographing the genus Tyrannus, &c , 



22 Sketch of North American Ornithology in 1879. [January, 

together with L. Beldmg's extended list of Californian birds, 
edited by Mr. Ridgway. Vol. 11 opens with a paper by Dr. T. 
M. Brewer on Empidonax. 

The Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey gives us its fifth 
and, as we particularly regret to add, its final volume this year. 
It consists of the usual four numbers, of which the first and second 
and third have appeared, the fourth being still in press, delayed 
by printing E. Coues's protracted and tedious bibliographical 
matter. In this volume are several papers on birds. Dr. C. E. 
McChesney, U. S. A., has some valuable notes on the Birds of 
Fort Sisseton, Dakota. Mr. George B. Sennett gives an exten- 
sive and important paper on the results of his second season's 
operations in Texas, adding several new species to our fauna, 
with great store of information respecting the habits of the birds 
of the Rio Grande. Dr. Morris Gibbs gives an annotated list 
of the birds of Michigan. Dr. Coues prints an article on the 
present status of Passer domesticus in America, including an his- 
torical resume of the quarrel over the sparrow, which has set the 
brethren of Boston and Washington so by the ears. The same 
writer also offers a second instalment of his ornithological bibli- 
ography, similar in scope and plan to that which forms the 
appendix to his " Birds of the Colorado Valley," but relating to 
neotropical instead of nearctic birds. 

In the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr. 
T. M. Brewer gives additional notes on the birds of New England, 
and Mr. E. A. Mearns has published in the Bulletin of the Essex 
Institute, several instalments of an elaborate and valuable list of 
the birds of the Hudson Highlands, N. Y. 

The Transactions of the Illinois Horticultural Society, for 1 878, 
published in 1879, contain a paper on economic ornithology, 
by Prof. Forbes ; and we may add that previous volumes of the 
same publication contain similar matter, perhaps none too well 
known. It is an important practical subject ; such contributions 
to which as those of Prof. Forbes, of Prof. Aughey (in the First 
Annual Report of the U. S. Entomological Commission, 1878), of 
Dr. J. M. Wheaton (Twenty-ninth Report Ohio Board of Agricul- 
ture, 1875), merit special attention pending the sparrow question. 

The Journal of Science, edited at Toledo, Ohio, by Dr. E. H. 
Fitch, continues to give popular articles on birds, mostly by the 
editor, and usually illustrated. 

The Familiar Science and Fanciers' Journal continues to fill its 



1 88a] Sketch of North American Ornithology in 1879. 23 

chosen sphere well, and has frequent articles of more technical 
character. Dr. Wm. Wood has here continued his " Birds of 
Connecticut." 

The most important — we had almost said the only very- 
important — contribution to systematic ornithology, among special 
treatises, is Elliot's Synopsis of the Trochilida?, published as one 
of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. It is a really 
great work, which bids fair to supersede Gould's Monograph in 
all that relates to the technic of the subject. As witnessed by 
the many critical papers which Mr. Elliot has published during the 
progress of his study of this family of birds, the author has been 
unwearied in his attention to the subject, and this 
quarto gives his final results. Mr. Elliot 
degree; very many nominal species are reduced to synonyms, 
the preparation of the lists of which shows great care and judg- 
ment ; and the ridiculously over-large number of genera which 
various writers have sought to establish, have found what we trust 
will be their final resting place. Numerous illustrations, from 
Mr. Ridgway's pencil, fitly illustrate the text of a memoir which 
instantly becomes indispensable to the working Trochilidists and 
which will undoubtedly carry the weight of the leading authority 
on the subject. 

Since Audubon's pencil and brush fell from the hand which for 
so many years turned them to works of unsurpassed beauty, 
nothing in the way of ornithological art appeared in this country 
to challenge comparison with the work of the great master 
until, from an unexpected quarter, the " Illustrations of the Nests 
and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio " were laid before us by the 
Misses Jones and Shulze, of Circleville, Ohio. Two numbers of 
this splendid work have appeared during the past year, and the 
prospect of the completion of the undertaking brightens as the 
merits of the " Illustrations " become better known, notwith- 
standing the untimely death of the leading author on the thresh*- 
old of her enterprise. This work is in folio, and is published by 
subscription, in parts, each to contain several colored plates of 
nests and eggs, of life size, with sheets of descriptive letter press. 
Combining as it does, the merits of fidelity to nature with 
artistic excellence, this work commends itself in an especial man- 
ner to all those who have a taste for the beauties of bird-life, as 
well as those who make ornithology a severe study. 

Another contribution to our knowledge of the eggs, nests and 



24 Sketch of North American Ornithology in 1879. [January, 

breeding-habits of birds is essayed by Mr. Ernest Ingersoll, and 
so far accomplished in a most meritorious manner. Three num- 
bers have appeared during the year past, in March, August and 
October respectively. This work is in large octavo, with several 
colored plates of eggs ^to each number, and more or less extended 
biographies of the species. Excepting in certain particulars, which 
we have noted in other places already, the mechanical execution 
does great credit to the publisher, Mr. Cassino ; and the comple- 
tion of this extensive work in the manner in which Mr. Ingersoll 
has begun it cannot fail to enrich the literature of the subject. 

We are glad to see the steady progress made by Mr. C. J. 
Maynard in his meritorious and laborious undertaking, which, 
beginning as the " Birds of Florida," has been remodeled and 
enlarged in scope, to represent a history of the birds of Eastern 
North America. Mr. Maynard is a practical ornithologist of 
large field experience ; his biographies have the unusual merit of 
originality and make interesting reading, while the attention he 
pays to the anatomical structure of birds gives prominence to one 
aspect of the subject much neglected in this country. The work 
is in quarto, with colored plates ; it is published in parts, about a 
dozen of which have appeared, and deserves to succeed. 

With due deference to Herbert, whom, as " Frank Forester," 
the disciples of St. Hubert seem to have canonized as only a 
lesser than their patron saint himself, we may refer to Dr. Lewis's 
work on American Field Sports as one of the most agreeable and 
reliable of books of this kind, and one a new edition of which 
has appeared this year. 

The veteran taxidermist, collector and dealer of Philadelphia, 
Mr. John Krider, has also contributed to such literature in the 
publication of his experiences of " Forty Years." 

" Wilsoniana " bids fair to become scarcely less extensive and 
fertile a field than " Waltoniana " has long been. The appear- 
ance not long since of A. B. Grosart's two portly volumes on 
Wilson's life, character and writings, both prose and poetry, and 
rather miscellaneous than ornithological, freshened the theme. 
It may not be generally known that the "father of American 
ornithology" was anything (and almost everything) but an 
ornithologist, until the decade before his untimely death in his 
prime, when his genius at last found its " place in nature," and 
achieved immortality. Every scrap of paper relating to the 
" melancholy poet-naturalist " has been eagerly sought for by his 



i88o.] Sketch of North American Ornithology in 1879. 25 

successive biographers, and Grosart, his latest and most enthusi- 
astic admirer, seemed to have told us all we were likely to learn 
of the man. It was, therefore, with peculiar pleasure that the 
present writer acquired, from Miss Malvina Lawson, daughter of 
Wilson's famous engraver, an autograph letter of Wilson's, which 
was found, on comparison with the documents in Ord's " Life," 
and in Grosart, to have never been published correctly, or in full. 
It is that one which, dated Pittsburgh, February 22, 18 10, gives 
an account of Wilson's boat voyage down the Ohio. It is 
printed verbatim, along with certain letters of George Ord's and 
Prince Bonaparte's, in the Penn Monthly for June, 1879. The 
writer also received, from the same source, an excellent drawing, 
never published, of the schoolhouse, near Gray's Ferry, where 
Wilson taught ; and which he would make over to any enter- 
prising publisher who would have it properly engraved. 

This slight sketch need not be left without allusion to the 
" sparrow literature " of the year — a curious mass of raw and not 
over-nice material, which will, nevertheless, be not without its 
" final cause," if it contributes to the very desirable settlement of 
the vexed question of the European sparrow in America. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SCIENCE OF BOTANY 
IN NORTH AMERICA FROM 1840 TO 1858. 

BY FREDERICK BREN'DEL. 
[Continued from p. 771, Vol. X11I, American Naturalist.^ 

AT the time when Torrey and Gray commenced their first work 
on the Flora of our continent north of Mexico, Sir William 
Jackson Hooker, the celebrated English botanist, had finished 
his great work on the Flora of British America, two volumes, in 
quarto, with 238 plates, London, 1833- 1840. But, before we pro- 
ceed farther, we have to review the early history of botany in the 
most northern and Arctic regions of North America. 

Hans Egede, a Danish missionary, was, from 172 1 to 1736, in 
Greenland. After his return to Denmark, he published, in 1741 
a description of that country. He describes, vaguely, some 
plants, with some drawings on one plate, but it is rather difficult to 
make out what the drawings mean. Afterwards his son, P. Egede, 
made some botanical collections, which, as well as those of 
Gieseke, who published a Flora Grcenlandica, 1816, in Brewster's 
Edinburg Encyclopaedia, and those of Wormskiold, are preserved 
in the herbaria of Hornemann and M. Vahl. 



26 Historical Sketch of the Science of Botany [January, 

Some Greenland plants were described, 1770, by Rottboell, 
professor in Copenhagen, and, in the same year a history of 
Greenland was published by the missionary Cranz ; the plants in 
it were described by Schreber. 

The largest collections were made in this century by Jens 
Vahl, the librarian of the botanical garden in Copenhagen, who 
traveled nine years in Greenland, and probably there will not 
many new discoveries be made. J. Lange's catalogue of Green- 
land plants (in Rink's work on Greenland, 1857), contains 320 
species in 52 orders. 

A list of plants collected on the coast of Baffin's bay was pub- 
lished by Robert Brown, in 18 19, and by the same a " Chloris 
Melvilleana," 1823, containing 131 species, of which 80 are phe- 
nogamous, collected at different times by Sabine, Edwards, Ross, 
Parry, Fisher and Beverley. 

Scoresby's collection in East Greenland, was described by 
Hooker in 1823, and that of Sabine in 1824. 

John Richardson, born in Scotland, 1787 (died 1865), was the 
naturalist of the expedition from the shores of Hudson's bay to 
the Polar sea, 1823, under the command of Franklin. This 
expedition started from York Factory, on Hudson's bay, and 
proceeded via Cumberland House, Carlton House, Fort Chippe- 
way, on the Athabaska lake, Fort Providence, on the Slave lake, 
and Fort Enterprise, 65 ° N. latitude, to the Coppermine river, 
then along the coast eastward to Cape Turnagain, the Hood 
river up to Fort Enterprise, to Norway House, on the Winnipeg 
lake, and back to York Factory. The collection of plants con- 
tained 700 species, and was published by Richardson in the 
botanical appendix to Franklin's Narrative, printed 1823. 

The narrative of the discoveries on the north coast of America, 
by Simpson and Dease, in 1837, published in 1843, contains a 
catalogue of plants examined by Sir William Hooker, but noth- 
ing new ; all the species were already collected by Richardson. 

Berthold Seemann (born in Hanover, 1825), the naturalist on 
board of H. M. S. Herald, urfder the command of Captain H. 
Kellet, during the years 1845-185 1, described, in a letter addressed 
to Sir William Hooker (in Journal of Botany), the arctic Flora of 
Kotzebue Sound, and published, 185 2-1 85 7, the botany of the 
expedition, the first part of which contains the Flora of Western 
Esquimaux land. 

Bachelot de la Pyiaie, a French botanist, explored, in 1819 and 



1 8 80.] In North A merica from 1 840 to % \ 8 5 8. 27 

1820, Newfoundland and the little islands of Miquelon and St. 
Pierre. He published, 1829, Flore de l'isle de Terre Neuve, 
which was not finished, and contains only a description of cryp- 
togamous plants. 

A Flora of Labrador was compiled by E. Meyer, professor of 
botany in Kcenigsberg, in 1830, from a small collection by the 
missionary Herzberg, and a number of species made known by 
Schrank, professor of botany in Munich. These plants were col- 
lected by a Danish missionary, Kohlmeister, probably the same 
that Pursh calls Colmaster in his Flora, and the plants of which 
he found in the herbaria of Dickson and Banks. The number of 
all the species of Labrador known at that time, was 198, of 
which 30 are cryptogamous. 

The north-west coast was visited, 1838, by the expedition of 
H. M. S. Sulphur, under the command of Sir Edward Belcher. 
This expedition explored the Pacific during the years 1836-1H42. 
The botanist was Mr. Barclay, in the service of the Kew garden, 
assisted by the surgeon Hinds and Dr. Sinclair. The parts 
visited were Prince William's sound, Port Mulgrave, both under 
6o° N. L., Sitka, Nutka sound, San Francisco, Sacramento river 
and Monterey in California. The botanical collections were 
described by George Bentham, in " Botany of the voyage of H. 
M. S. Su/phur," 1844, with 60 plates. 

The U. S. Naval exploring expedition, under the command of 
Charles Wilkes, wriich crossed the Pacific during the years 1838 
to 1842, in every direction, arrived, 1841, in Oregon. Charles 
Pickering was collector on this expedition. The Columbia river 
up to Walla Walla, and the Willamette valley were examined : 
afterwards the Sacramento river down to San Francisco. In Ore- 
gon were collected 1218 species, and 519 in Northern California; 
the whole collection of this expedition amounting to 9600 spe- 
cies, were examined. The phanerogamous plants were described 
by Dr. Torrey ; the ferns of the expedition, by Dr. Brackenridge ; 
the mosses by Mr. Sullivant ; and the lower cryptogams by other 

N. J. Andersson, a Swedish botanist, naturalist of the voyage 
around the world of the Swedish frigate Eugenie, collected in 1852, 
in California; he took particular notice of the willows, and in 1858, 
he published in Proceedings of American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, a "Synopsis of North American Willows," of which he 



28 Histori^l Sketch of tJie Science of Botany [January, 

enumerates fifty-nine species, a number of which he degraded to 
the rank of sub-species in his Monographia Salicum, 1863. He 
is the author of the genus Salix in Decandolle's Prodromus. 

Besides the Rocky mountains and California, another large 
field opened for exact exploration. The Mexican war and the 
acquisition of new territories caused a long series of expeditions 
to California and those tracts of land which form with West Texas 
the North Mexican botanical province. 

In June, 1842, Lieut. Fremont set out from the mouth of the 
Kansas river, followed that river about one hundred miles, passed 
over to the Platte river, traveled up the river to the junction of 
the north and south fork, where the party divided, one part fol- 
lowing the north fork to Fort Laramie, the other proceeding 
along the south fork to Fort St. Vrain, and from there to Fort 
Laramie. Then the expedition followed the north fork and the 
Sweetwater river up to South Pass, and the Wind River moun- 
tains, the highest peak of which, afterwards called Fremont's Peak, 
he ascended. Returning, the Platte river was followed to its 
mouth. The collection of plants, consisting of 352 species, con- 
tained fifteen new ones, described by Torrey. 

The collections of Fremont's second expedition, during the 
years 1843 and 1844, which extended to Oregon and California, 
were greatly damaged, so that in many instances it was extremely 
difficult to determine the plants. Torrey furnished the descrip- 
tion of a few new genera and species, which, with four plates, was 
published in App. C. to Fremont's Report. t)ne of these new 
genera he named Fremontia, but this name was afterwards 
withdrawn, as Nees had already described the plant under the 
name Sarcobatus, and Fremont's name was transferred to another 
new Californian genus of the order of Sterculiaceas. 

Two other expeditions were undertaken by Fremont in 1845- 
1846 and 1848, extending to California. Large collections were 
made again, but the greater part of them were destroyed by the 
same mishaps. Some of the new genera that were saved for ex- 
amination were described and published in 1850, by Professor 
Torrey in the Smithsonion Contributions, as " Plantre Fremont- 
ianae," with ten beautiful plates. 

Emory's military expedition traversed in June and July, 1846, 
the plains from Fort Leavenworth to the bend of the Arkansas, 
followed this river to the Pawnee fork, crossed the Raton moun- 



i88o.] In North America from 1840 to 1858. 29 

tains (7000 feet) and the ridge between the Canadian river and 
Rio Grande to Santa Fe; then again the dividing ridge (6000 
feet) between the Rio Grande and Gila, followed the latter to the 
Colorado of the West, and arrived at St. Diego. The botanical 
collections (about 200 species) were examined by Torrey, the 
Cactaceae by Dr. Engelmann, and published in Appendix 2 of 
Emory's Report. A small number of plants was collected by 
Lieut. Abert, amongst which was nothing new. 

Dr. A. Wislizenus, born in Germany, 18 10, left St. Louis in the 
spring of 1846, with the intention of traveling in North Mexico 
and Upper California. He undertook the journey at his own ex- 
pense, and war was not yet declared, when he arrived at Chihua- 
hua ; but there he was arrested as a spy, and transported to Cosi- 
huirachi, at which place he was left in a " passive " condition ; that 
means as to his free will to leave ; for, as a collector, he was very 
active on this rich field, where he collected so many species not 
found before. Six months afterwards, Colonel Doniphan's troops 
occupied that part of the country, and Wislizenus accepted a 
situation in the medical department of the American army, and, 
instead of going westward as he first intended, he followed the 
army to Monterey, and returned via Matamoras to the States. 
He collected a large number of plants. In an Appendix to the 
" Memoir of a tour to North Mexico in 1846 and 1847, by A. Wis- 
lizenus, M. D., printed for the use of the Senate of U. S.," the 
botany of the explored country is described by Dr. Engelmann. 
Amongst the new species were over thirty new species of Cactus. 

West Texas was extensively explored since 1835, when Ferdi- 
nand Lindheimer (born in Germany, 1802), settled at New Braun- 
fels, where he lives yet. His large collections were named and 
described by Gray and Engelmann, in Boston Journal of Natural 
History, as Plantar Lindheimerianse, part 1 in 1845, part n in 
1847. Many of these plants were shortly afterwards described ' 
by Scheele, in Linnaea, from a collection brought to Germany by 
the geologist F. Roemer, who studied the geology of Texas in 
1 846- 1 847, and received many specimens from Lindheimer. 

Completed and extended to the whole area of the Rio Grande, 
were these explorations by Gregg and Wright. 

Josiah Gregg, the author of the " Commerce of the Prairies, 
1844," made large botanical collections, but died soon (1849) in 
California. 



30 Historical Sketch of the Science of Botany [January, 

Charles Wright spent several years in Texas, the botany of 
which country he studied. Then, in 1849, he went westward to 
El Paso, in New Mexico. His rich collections of plants were 
placed in the hands of Prof. Gray, who described and published 
" Plantae Wrightianae " in the third volume of Smithsonian Con- 
tributions, with ten plates. In 1851-1852, he was again in New 
Mexico, the collection of which tour furnished the material to 
the second part of Plantae Wrightianae, with four plates, in the 
fifth volume of the Smithsonian Contributions. 

Another well-known botanist explored New Mexico at the 
same time. August Fendler came, about the year 1836, from 
Germany to North America. In 1846 he left Fort Leavenworth 
with a military train, followed the Arkansas river up to Fort 
Bent, crossed the mountains to Santa Fe, where he made his 
principal collections from April to August, 1847. An account of 
his collection Prof. Gray published in the Memoirs of the Ameri- 
can Academy, Vol. iv, under the title, Plantae Fendlerianae. Fend- 
ler resided a long time near St. Louis ; went afterwards to Vene- 
zuela, and is now collecting on the Island of Trinidad. 

Dr. Woodhouse was a member of the expedition down the 
Zurii and Colorado rivers under the command of Capt. Sitgreaves, 
in 1850. His collections, placed for examination in the hands 
of Prof. Torrey, consist of three portions : the first, collected 
between Neosho and Arkansas rivers, and on the north fork of 
the Canadian, and the second, from Texas, contain nothing new. 
The plants of the third portion were collected in Arizona and 
California. The catalogue of the latter (about 180 species) is 
published with twenty-one plates, in 1853, with Sitgreaves' Re- 
port There is described a new genus of the order of Amaran- 
taceae and several new species. 

In the year 1852 an expedition under the command of Capt. 
Marcy explored the Red river to its sources. The botanical col- 
lection of 200 species, made by Dr. Shumard, was examined by 
Prof. Torrey. and published in App. G of Marcy's Report with 
twenty plates. 

The botany of these formerly Mexican provinces was nearly un- 
known before Berlandier ; but by the collections of the above-named 
botanists much light was thrown upon it; their work was further 
advanced by the Pacific railroad explorations and the Mexican 
boundary survey, and will be completed by the surveys of the 



i88o."l In North America from 1840 to 1858. 31 

Territories in progress yet. Here may be mentioned, though 
not in the compass of this historical sketch, the surveys of Hay- 
den, Powell, Wheeler, and King, who surveyed the State of 
Nevada, and whose report contains, in the fifth volume, the botany 
of Nevada and Utah, by Sereno Watson. 

Several expeditions were ordered by the Government, in 1853, 
to cross the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, along certain par- 
allels, to explore the most practical route for a railroad to the 
Pacific coast. The parties consisted of a military command and 
a number of technic and scientific assistants. The reports of 
these explorers were afterwards published by the Government in 
thirteen quarto volumes, extensively illustrated and full of the 
most important scientific matter. The botanical collectors were 
the following : Dr. Suckley, naturalist to the party of Gov. 
Stevens, who proceeded between the parallels 47 and 49 to 
Oregon. The botanical report of this route, with six plates, we 
find in the last volume ; it contains the collections of Suckley on 
the plains, 323 species, examined by Prof. Gray (one genus and 
three species were new), and a catalogue of plants from Washing- 
ton territory collected by Dr. Cooper. Those east of the Cascade 
range, 75 species, of which two were new, were examined by Prof. 
Gray, those of the west side, 386 species, of which one was new, 
collected by Suckley and Gibbs, were examined by Torrey and 
Gray. A general report on the botany of the route is written 
by Dr. Cooper. 

In Vol. 11, Torrey and Gray reported on the collection of 
plants made by F. Creutzfeldt, a German gardener from St. Louis, 
who was engaged as botanist under the command of Capt. Gun- 
nison, and was killed with the same, by the Indians, near Sevier 
lake, Utah. He collected 124 species, with two new ones; the 
report is illustrated by three plates. After the murder of Gun- 
nison, the party reached, under Lieut. Beckwith, the Great Salt 
lake, where the winter was passed. J. A. Snyder, the topog- 
rapher of the party, took charge of the botanical collections made 
along the 41st parallel, from the Great Salt lake to the Sacramento 
river. The plants, 59 species, were published by Torrey and 
Gray. There were seven new species, illustrated on seven plates. 

The richest collection was that of Dr. J. M. Bigelow, under 
Capt. Whipple, along the 35th parallel ; it is published in Vol. iv, 
and contains 1109 species of vascular plants, amongst which nine 



32 Historical Sketch of the Science of Botany [January, 

genera and seventy-two species were new, illustrated by twenty- 
five plates. In a separate report Dr. Engelmann described fifty 
Cactaceae, of which eighteen were new and illustrated by twenty- 
four- plates, and Sullivant seventy-two mosses, with twelve new 
ones and ten plates. Very instructive is the general description 
of the soil, of the productions along the route, and the forest trees 
by Bigelow. 

The route near the 32d parallel, from El Paso to Preston on 
the Red river, was explored by Capt. Pope. Dr. Diffendorfer 
made the botanical collections, which contained 268 species, of 
which three genera and thirteen species were new. The cata- 
logue is published by Torrey and Gray in Vol. 11 of the Reports, 
with ten plates. 

Dr. A. L. Heermann was the naturalist under the command of 
Lieut. Williamson, who explored the passes in the Sierra Nevada 
and the coast range. The catalogue of eighty-eight species, 
amongst which were fourteen new ones, with eighteen plates, 
described by Durand and Hilgard, we find in Vol. v, with a sepa- 
rate collection of the geologist, W. P. Blake, containing eighty- 
seven species, with six new ones and ten plates, described by 
Dr. Torrey. 

Vol. vi contains the interesting botanical report of Dr. J. S. 
Newberry, geologist under the command of Lieut. Williamson 
when he explored the country between the Columbia river and 
Sacramento river. Besides an article on geographical botany, he 
described the forest trees with ten plates, and added a catalogue 
of 531 vascular plants (two genera and eight species were new) 
with six plates, twenty mosses and ten lichens. He was after- 
wards a member of the expedition on the Colorado of the West, 
under the command of Lieut. Ives, in 1857-185 8. The report 
was published in i86r, and part 4 contains the catalogue of plants 
examined by Gray, Torrey, Engelmann and Thurber, 400 species 
with ten new ones. 

Dr. Thomas Antisell collected, under the command of Lieut. J. 
G. Parke, between the Rio Grande and Southern California, 281 
species (one genus and three species were new), which are pub- 
lished with eight plates in Vol. vn of the reports. 

The Mexican boundary survey began in 1849, and continued 
with an interruption, and after a reorganization under Major 
Emory in 1853, till 1856. The report of Emory was published, 



1880.] In North America from 1840 to 1858. 33 

1858, in two large volumes; the first half of the second volume 
contains the botany. An introductory chapter on geographical dis- 
tribution and botanical features of the country was written by Dr. 
C. C. Parry, the catalogue of plants, with descriptions of twelve 
new genera and 195 new species, with illustrations on sixty-one 
plates, by Torrey, partly by Gray and Engelmann, who elaborated 
the Cactaceae separately and described ninety-two species, of 
which not less than forty were new, with seventy-five plates. The 
whole work contains under 2140 species, 235 new ones. The 
most new species, besides the Cactaceae, we find amongst the 
Euphorbiaceae (36), described by Engelmann, then under the 
Compositae (32), and the Scrophulariaceae (19), both orders 
described by Prof. Gray. Eight orders comprise half the species 
of the collection: Compositae 430, Leguminosae 212, Euphorbi- 
aceae 101, Cactaceae 92, Scrophulariaceae 7 1 ,' Cyperaceae 61, Labi- 
atae 53 and Cruciferae 47. The large order of Gramineae, elabo- 
rated by Dr. George Thurber, was unfortunately omitted on ac- 
count of the already too great size of the volume. Geo. Thur- 
ber was one of the botanists of the survey under Bartlett at 
the same time with Dr. J. M. Bigelow. Gray published already, 
in 1854, in Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, N. S. Vol. v, " Plantae novae Thurberiana;," twenty- 
eight species, of which six belong to six new genera. Charles 
Wright was attached by Col. Graham to his separate corps of 
the survey. Under Emory, Dr. C. C. Parry and A. Schott made 
the botanical collections. 

The important result of all these explorations was not only the 
multitude of new genera and species made known, but the light 
thrown upon the distribution of North American plants. It was 
recognized that there is an unmistakable difference between the 
eastern wooded, the central treeless and the Californian sections of 
temperate North America, of which the first may be called 
the sylvan, the second, the campestrian, and the third, the Cali- 
fornian botanical province. The campestrian province reaches 
from West Texas to Southern California, and far north on both 
sides of the Rocky mountains ; the Sierra Nevada and Cascade 
range, in Oregon, form the western border, but on the east side 
there is no sharp line, the prairies stretching into the wooded 
country. That the flora of East Texas is identical with that 
of Louisiana and the other Gulf States, Engelmann has suffj- 



34 Historical Sketch of the Science of Botany [January, 

ciently demonstrated in the Proceedings of the American Asso- 
ciation, fifth meeting, 185 1. 

At the time of Fremont's first expedition, two German botan- 
ists directed their lonely ways to the Rocky mountains and to the I 
Territory of Oregon. 

Carl Geyer, born 1809, came to America in 1835. As already 
mentioned he was employed as a collector by Nicollet, afterwards 
he crossed the Rocky mountains under 40 N. L. to Oregon 
territory. His rich collections were sent to Sir William Hooker, 
who examined the plants and described fourteen new species in 
Journal of Botany, 1845 to l8 56. Geyer himself furnished in- 
teresting remarks on the features of the country. He returned 
in 1845 to Germany, and died there in 1853. 

Lueders, from Hamburg, crossed the Rocky mountains in 
1843, and made collections in Oregon Territory. Fremont met 
him near the Cascades of the Columbia river, where he (Lueders) 
lost his package by capsizing of his canoe in the rapids, an acci- 
dent which Fremont memorized by naming a little bay in that 
locality after his name Lueders' bay, probably a poor reparation 
for his loss. Nothing was known of him afterward. 

Descriptions of plants collected by Dr. Wm. Gambel in the 
Rocky mountains and California were published by Thomas 
Nuttall in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia, in 1848. He proposed twelve new genera and 106 
new species, but not all of these remained valid. 

Captain Stansbury explored,. 1849- 1850, the valley o( the 
Great Salt lake. His report was published by the Government in 
1852. Appendix D contains the botany examined by Torrey, 
114 species, of which three were new and some new varieties, with 

The knowledge of the botany of British America was greatly 
promoted by Sir John Richardson's Arctic searching expedition, 
published in two volumes, London, 185 1. The object of the ex- 
pedition was the search for the lost Captain Franklin along the 
north coast. The voyage was made in boats from Lake Superior 
via Lake Winnipeg to the Mackenzie river, then from Great Bear 
lake to the Coppermine river, and lasted from May, 1848, to Sept. 
1849. In the Appendix (more than half the second volume) we • 
find chapters on the physical geography, climatology and geo- 
graphical distribution of plants north of the 49th parallel, with 



i88o.] In North America from 1840 to 1858. 35 

most valuable observations. There is a list of trees and shrubs 
with their northern limits, and a table of the distribution of Cari- 
ces, which was prepared by Dr. Francis Boott, one of the best 
authorities and author of the beautiful " Illustrations of the genus 
Carex," the 4th part of which was after his death published by J. 
D. Hooker. Boott was born in Boston, 1792, and died in London, 
1863. 

In the summer of 1848, Prof. Agassiz made a scientific excursion 
to the Lake Superior with a number of students. He published, 
1850, a volume on the physical character, vegetation and animals. 
Two chapters treat of the botany on the shore of Lake Superior 
compared with that of the Jura and the Alps. The accounts of 
such excursions are highly interesting, when related by compe- 
tent botanists, e. g., that published by Prof. Gray in 1841, in Silli- 
maiis Journal, " Notes of a Botanical Excursion to the Moun- 
tains of North Carolina." 

The most prominent American botanists of our times are 
Torrey, Gray and Engelmann. ' - / ..- — j L><^* **>w 

John Torrey was born in New York, 1798, and died on the 
10th of March, 1873. Author of many botanical writings, he 
published, as early as 18 19, a "Catalogue of plants growing 
spontaneously within thirty miles of the city of New York ;" in 
1824 a " Flora of the northern and middle sections of U. S.," of 
which only Vol. 1 was printed, containing Classes i-xii of the 
Linnaean system, which was at that time yet in general use; 
1826, a " Compendium of the Flora of the Northern and Middle 
States;" 1836, a "Monograph of the North American Cyper- 
aceae" (in Annals of the Lyceum of New York, Vol. Hi); from 
1838 to 1843, with Asa Gray, the first two volumes of the Flora 
of North America already mentioned. It contains the orders from 
Ranunculacese to Compositae, and was not continued at that time, 
but will be finished now, since the large amount of new material 
brought from the Western explorations is nearly worked up. In 
1843 appeared his " Flora of the State of New York," two large 
quarto volumes, with 162 tables, forming the second part of the 
Natural History of New York. In the preface we find a historical 
sketch of the botanists and their work in the State before that 
time. His other writings are already mentioned. 

Asa Gray was born on the 18th of November, 18 10, in Paris, 
Oneida county, New York, and is now Professor of Botany of 



36 Historical Sketch of the Science of Botany [January, 

Harvard University, at Cambridge, Mass. His first work was 
published 1834-1835, "North American Gramineae and Cyper- 
aceae" two volumes, containing each one hundred species, illus- I 
trated by dried specimens.. It was followed by " Elements of j 
Botany," 1836; " Melanthacearum Americae septentrionalis re- | 
visio," 1837; the " Botanical Textbook," 1842 (third edition, 1 850); I 
"Chloris Americana," illustrations of new, rare and otherwise 
interesting North American' plants. Decade 1, with ten beautiful 
plates, 1846 (not continued). The first edition of his well-known 
" Manual of the Botany of the Northern States," appeared in 1848, 
and was followed by many editions. " Genera Florae American 
boreali-orientalis illustrata, Vol. 1 and 11, with 186 tables," from ~| 
Ranunculaceae to Terebinthaceae, was not continued. Already 
mentioned are many of his contributions in public documents, 
Smithsonian publications and scientific periodicals, too numerous 
to be all named, but all of the greatest value. 

George Engelmann, born in 1810, in Frankfurt-on-the-Main, 
came to America about the year 1834, and has resided since that 
time in St. Louis, Missouri. Except his writings mentioned above, 
he has published, in different periodicals, a number of mono- 
graphs of difficult orders and genera, e. g., Cactaceae, 1856, Cus- 
cutae, 1859. His papers on North American Juncus, Quercus, 
Yucca, some Coniferse and Gentianae are later. 

Other active botanists of that period are -A. Wood, who pub- 
lished a " Classbook of Botany," which is much in use. There is 
a " Botany of the Northern States," by L. C. Beck, professor in'i 
Albany, who lived from 1798 to 1853; a "North American 
Botany," by Eaton and Wright ; an " Introduction to Botany," 
by Comstock ; an " American Flora," by Strong ; a " Botany of 
the Southern States," by Darby. -• ^.A-^t*-— -^ 

Local floras and catalogues of plants were compiled, by Dewey: 
Report on the Herbaceous Plants of Massachusetts, 1840; by 
Emerson : Report on the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts, 
with seventeen plates, 1846; by Lapham : Plants of Wisconsin, 
1849, and a Catalogue of Plants of Illinois, published in the sec- 
ond volume of Trans, of 111. State Agric. Soc, 1857. Catalogues 
and notes on the botany of this State were published previously, 
1826, by Dr. L. C. Beck, and, 1843, by C. Geyer, with notes by Dr. 
Engelmann, both in Silliwaris Journal, then 1845, by Dr. C. W. 
Short in the Western 'Journal of Medicine. Much has been done 



i from 1840 /<> 1858. 37 

y of Illinois by Dr. S. B. Mead, of 
rid Dr. G. Vasey, of McHenry 
county. 

Amongst the American botanists, although born in Germany, 
may be named Dr. Rugel. He came, in 1842, to America, and 
settled afterwards in East Tennessee, where he lately died. He 
collected in the South-eastern States, and used to send his collec- 
tions to Shuttleworth, in Geneva (Switzerland). P^c 

There is a number of catalogues which fall partly in the latter 
time of the second period, that of Bachman, of the plants in the 
vicinity of Charleston, S. C. 1834; by Gibbes, of the plants of 
Columbia, S. C, 1835 ; by Aiken, of the plants near Baltimore, 
1836; by Lea, of plants collected in the vicinity of Cincinnati, 
after his death published by Sullivant. The fungi of the collec- 
tion were examined by Berkeley. 

Ravenel published a paper on the plants of the Santee canal, 
1850, and Kirtland one on the climate, flora and fauna of the 
southern shore of Lake Erie, 1852. 

Publications on single orders exist of Jos. Barratt, " Salices 
Americanse " and " North American Carices," 1840 ; of Tucker- 
man, "North American Lichens," 1848; of Sullivant, " Musci 
Alleghaniensis," 1846, and " Bryology and Hepatology of North 
America," 1847; of Bailey, on " North American Algae." 1848; 
of Curtis, on " North American Fungi," 1848, both in Sillimans 
Journal ; of Dewey, " North American Carices," in Sillimans 
Journal; of Sartwell, "Carices America: septentrionalis exsicca- 
te," 1 848-1 850 (158 species) ; of Alex. Braun (professor in Berlin, 
who died lately), " Equisetae and Charae," in Sillimans Journal ; 
of Harvey (professor in Dublin, dead since 1866), " The Marine 
Algae of North America," in Smithsonian Contributions, 1858, 
three volumes, with fifty plates. 

The chief authority on North American fossil plants is Leo 
Lesquereux, a native of Switzerland, residing in Columbus, Ohio, 
who is besides a trustworthy judge of mosses, and compiled 
the catalogue of Arkansas plants in Owen's Geological Report. 
An important branch of science, the geographical distribution of 
American plants, is yet in its infancy. It requires a thorough 
knowledge of local floras in connection with the physical and 
climatological condition of each locality to get the right view of 
this matter. Some steps have been made in that direction, some 



38 Editors' Table. [January, 

preparatory work has been done, but the main labor is left to the 
future. Prof. Gray published " Statistics of the Flora of the North- 
ern U. S.," in American Journal of Science and Arts, 1856, which 
will promote the cause for that part of the country. Dr. J. G. Cooper 
published a" good article on the distribution of the forests and trees 
of North America, in Smithsonian Report for 1858. As only the 
woody plants are here accounted for, the limits drawn cannot be 
intended as to separate botanical districts in general. Even for 
the forest plants the limitations admit of some corrections, but 
as a preliminary essay it is valuable. 1 

Here this sketch must be concluded, for two reasons — 1, the 
newest botanical literature is so extensive, and partly published 
in so many different periodicals, that a private library is not suffi- 
cient for a survey of the whole; 2, the number of botanists has 
' increased so much throughout the country, as is shown by 
Cassino's Naturalist's Directory, that it is rather difficult to win- 
now the chaff from the wheat, and to avoid offence by neglect- 
ing a man whose merits are worthy of mention. 



EDITORS' TABLE. 
editors: a. s. Packard, jr., and e. d. cope. 

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, nearly 

four years since, made a number of changes in its organization as 
expressed in its by-laws. With but two dissenting voices, the 
academy concluded to place the direction of the museum, and 
the scientific work dependent on it, in the hands of thirteen pro- 
fessors, who were to perform the work previously entrusted to 
four curators. Experience had abundantly shown, what is indeed 
self-evident, that a general scientific museum cannot be obtained, 
arranged or controlled by four persons, however gifted ; and 
further, in the history of the institution it had generally been the 
case that the four curators were not all selected from the original 
investigators or active scientists of the academy. It was thought 



1 Althou 


gh published in 


United St; 
of Tennes 
rida, by A 
pp.621.— 


. W. Chapman, 1 



i88o.] Editors' Table. 3; 

to be important that the control of the working material of the 
institution should be in the hands of those who do the work and 
give it its reputation ; and further, that lectures should, from time 
to time, be delivered, which would constitute statements of the 
progress of science, as made by the workers of the academy and 
of the world at large. These propositions, whose reasonableness 
is so self evident, bringing the academy, as they would, into con- 
formity with the usage of similar bodies throughout the world, 
were stoutly resisted by some of the members. As discussion 
proceeded, it became evident that without such an organization, 
or its equivalent, the title of " Academy " is a misnomer, and that 
nothing good could be expected of the club management under 
which it was conducted. It was shown that under this order the 
position of an expert zvoi ' "/.; /// >h institution was an unenviable 
one ; that free use of the mi 
misconduct by irresponsible ; 
him in conflict with employes who recognized only the authority 
of the four curators. It was brought to view that the most pro- 
fuse liberality and generosity to the institution afforded no pro- 
tection from these wrongs, and that while gifts of the greatest 
value were gladly accepted, obstacles, often indirect but always 
effective, were thrown in the way of the use, by the donors, of 
these, and even of unpresented private property. It was shown 
that the arrangement and labeling of the collections were fre- 
quently entrusted to incompetent persons, and that the result was 
what might be expected ; also that the museum was not keeping 
pace with the age, and that as a consequence, original work in 
connection with it had almost ceased. The result of the discus- 
sion was as stated, the adoption of the proposed re-organization, 
with only two dissenting voices. 

One of the two noes came from the president, Dr. Ruschen- 
berger. Although standing thus in opposition to the will of the 
academy, the services of this gentleman in the cause of science 
in raising money for the erection of the building the academy 
now occupies, were justly so appreciated by the members, that he 
was reelected to fill the position for another year. A due sense 
of the generous action of the majority in thus electing an oppo- 
nent to the highest position within their gift, if not sufficient to 
induce conformity to the republican principle of a support of the 
views of the majority, should at least have suggested a passive 
attitude towards their attempts to carry their Wishes into effect. 
But the friends of progress were doomed to disappointment. A 
determination to stamp out the new measures was manifested by 
a few members, who, having abandoned legitimate opposition, 
adopted the weapon of the weak— personal defamation. By- 
introducing damaging personalties, so that .1 full discussion was 
impossible prior to an election of officers, much injury to the 



40 Editors' Table. [January, 

was done. The president was, by no means, clear of complicity 
in these proceedings, which, after the lapse of two years, received 
the emphatic condemnation of the academy by a vote in the pro- 
portion of two and a-half to one. In the meantime the new by- 
laws not only remained a dead letter, but additional changes were 
made which completely nullified them. The most important of 
these, by excluding the prospective professors from the council, 
rendered the positions untenable by men who value the pros- 
perity of the academy. But this was simply a first step in the 
development of a new policy of the president's own conception, 
and for which he should have full credit, as expressed by himself. 
Dr. Ruschenberger has stated verbally, that it was his opinion 
that the council of the academy would be better constituted with- 
out the membership of the specialists. He has also maintained, 
that the prospective professors should not be members of the 
council, because it is the duty of that body to " direct the pro- 
fessors when to lecture, where to lecture, and what to lecture 
about." He is credited with saying, that no " high science" can 
be looked for from such an institution, as it is a kind of high 

We have here at last the opposition to the new organization 
crystallized, which we think to be a desirable consummation. Is 
the " Academy " to be an academy of original research in 
the sciences, or, shall we say, a trustee school, which will toler- 
ate original research provided it be not too extensive or impor- 
tant ? Shall the institution adopt a mediaeval system which 
has been repudiated long since in many countries as regards 
universities, and which has no relation anywhere to academies 
of science ? Is it necessary to say that an academy of sciences 
consists exclusively of a body of experts in science, and that 
under this established definition some of our officers have no 
claim to even membership in such a body ? Are we to return to 
the days when learned men were the property of priests or 
the mere ornaments of the governing classes of society, subject 
to their dictation as to " where they shall lecture, when they shall 
lecture, and what they shall lecture about!' That is what the 
scheme of Dr. Ruschenberger amounts to, only substitute for j 
priests and nobles a collection of generally worthy gentlemen, 
who know more of everything else than of science and its needs. 
That this scheme is in entire antagonism to the intention of the 
founders, whose object was original research, is sufficiently clear. 

In direct opposition to the present domination of such views, 
and to prevent the perversion of the academy's property to uses 
not contemplated by its constitution, a resolution to make the 
prospective professors ex-officio members of council was largely 
and respectably signed and laid before the council, in hopes of 
its adoption. Among the signers may be mentioned the names of 
Leidy, Cope, Ryder, Dercum, Brown and Parker, well known in 



i88o.] Editors' Table. 41 

Philadelphia scientific work. But the proposition was rejected by a 
quorum of the council, and the president has issued a report of 
the proceedings, which now lies before us. As it occupies nearly 
twelve octavo pages, it of course includes much besides the pro- 
ceedings referred to, and is in fact a digest of the president's 
views on the subject. That such a document should be prepared, 
shows that its author has but a faint conception of the position 
which he occupies in relation to the opinions of the majority of 
members of the academy. An examination of its contents 
shows that his perception of the proprieties of discussion, both 
as a man and as an officer, is still less clear. We only allude to 
the gross inuendoes and slurs it contains, to state that some of 
the worst of them were added by the author after the formal 
authorization of the publication of the report of council, and that 
he thus commits an offence against ordinary propriety, and against 
the Society itself. Such is also the omission of the names of per- 
sons against whom some of these charges are leveled, which 
names were contained in the report as read. We think, how- 
ever, that the publication will be, on the whole, useful to the 
academy's cause, as it indicates, in no doubtful way, the unfit- 
ness of its author for the position he occupies. 

We, however, call attention to one subject, which, dressed up 
in various guises, has served, and still serves, as a scare-crow to 
some useful members. The proposition to create thirteen pro- 
fessors who shall be ex- officio members of council, does not dis- 
turb the present order, by which the general officers of the 
academy are ex-officio members of council. It simply places the 
experts of the institution on an equal footing in council with 
those elected by the academy at large, thus forming a body com- 
posed of what might be called senate and house combined. But 
Dr. Ruschenberger pretends to be alarmed for the safety of the 
property when entrusted to the care of the thirteen. We do not 
believe that any one else is apprehensive of danger, but if they 
are, we suggest that still greater risks attend the charge of the 
collections by equal or smaller numbers (say four, as at present) of 
persons, who are mostly unacquainted with the business. Sec- 
ondly, the use of new material by thirteen men to the exclusion 
of the eight hundred and eighty-seven other members of the 
academy, appears to Dr. Ruschenberger, to be a monstrous 
injustice. Perhaps the doctor would approve a plan by which 
all these gentlemen might take turns at describing the mass 
of new species daily received at the hall of the academy ; or 
the difficulty could be gotten over if the council would resolve 
that new species might be described several times. 

But seriously, the president inverts the order of things abso- 

obviously depends on the number of persons interested in bringing 
it there. If such interested persons find that they have no rights 



42 Recent Literature. [January, 

that any one is bound to respect, they will not bring it there ; as 
is the case at present. And thirteen men who are interested, 
and who know how to obtain it, will certainly benefit the acad- 
emy more, than four persons, 1 most of whom do not know new 
material when they see it, have no use for it, and do not know 
how to get it. 

Finally, we suggest whether the professorship scheme would 
not go better if a chair of libel were added to the list. The only 
reason why this chair should not succeed would be, that the most 
eligible candidate could not then be a member of council, who 
would have the power to direct him " where to lecture, when to 
lecture and what to lecture about." 



RECENT LITERATURE. 
Geological Survey of Canada. 2 — Owing to the separate 
paging for the several reports filling this volume, by which the 
process of printing has been hastened, it has appeared sooner 
than its predecessors. It is devoted mainly to interesting obser- 
vations on the stratigraphy of the Quebec group, by Mr. Selwyn, 
who seems to discard the names Norian, Montalban, Taconian 
and Keeweenian, proposed by Dr. Sterry Hunt, and now in quite 
general use by New England geologists. Mr. G. M. Dawson 
reports at length on the geology of British Columbia, Mr. S. H. 
Scudder describing the fossil insects. The reconnaisance by Mr. 
Robert Bell of the west coast of Hudson's bay, gives us the first 
definite knowledge, so far as we are aware, of that interesting 
region. He claims that there is abundant evidence of the eleva- 
tion of the land (or to use his own words, " that the sea-level is 
falling") at a comparatively rapid rate in Hudson's bay. " Since," 
he writes, "the Hudson's Bay Company's ports have been estab- 
lished at the mouths of the various rivers, there has been an 
increasing difficulty in approaching them with large craft. On 
the islands and shores all along the Eastmain coast, the ' raised 
beaches are very conspicuous at all heights up to about three 
hundred feet immediately near the sea, but, no doubt higher ones 
would be found further inland. Drift-wood (mostly spruce) is 
found almost everywhere, above the highest tides, in a more and 
more decayed state the higher above the sea, up to a height of at 
least thirty feet, and in some places up to forty and fifty feet, 
above which it has disappeared by the long exposure to the 
weather. Judging by the rate of decay of spruce wood in this 
climate, its preservation in large quantities, during an ' elevation' 
of the land, or rather a fall in the water, to the extent of thirty 



i88o.J Recent Literature. 43 

feet, would indicate a change in the relative level of the sea, 
amounting to perhaps between five and ten feet in a century." 

Boulder clays are abundantly developed, containing numerous 
shells characteristic of the Leda clays of the coast of Labrador. 
It appears that the white whale still exists in considerable num- 
bers all along the coast, while " the walrus is killed by the Esqui- 
maux, principally about the entrance to Hudson's straits and 
around the Belcher islands. In former years this animal is 
reported to have been seen occasionally as far south as Little 
Whale river. On the opposite side of Hudson's bay walruses 
are said to have been seen near Cape Henrietta Maria. The nar- 
wahl is occasionally killed by the Esquimaux in the northern 
part of Hudson's bay. In the spring, soon after the shore ice 
disappears, the polar bear occasionally comes ashore on Long 
Island and the smaller islands between it and Great Whale river. 
In the winter they have been known to range as far south as the 
head of James' bay." The climate of the west coast of Hudson's 
bay in the Nelscn river region is milder than that of the opposite 
coast, and that of the region about the Norway House is fully as 
good as that of the Province of Manitoba. The subsoil in places 
is frozen through the summer, and it is possible that toward York 
Factory it is permanently frozen. 

The volume closes with reports by Messrs. L. W. Bailey and 
R. W. Ells on the Pre-silurian and Cambrian rocks of Southern 
New Brunswick, and on the superficial geology of New Bruns- 
wick, by Mr. G. F. Matthew ; on the geology of Cape Breton, by 
H. Fletcher, with others on economical geology. 

Morse's Shell Mounds of Japan. 1 — Not only has Japan an 
university very fully manned with American, English and Ger- 
man instructors, but her desire to make it a genuine university, by 
contributing to the advancement of science, is made evident by 
the publication of a volume giving the results of researches car- 
ried on by the professors and students. The first contribution is 
to the new science of anthropology by a people which has but 
recently thrown off the habits of a semi-civiliz< d ra :e and adopted 
the modes and sciences of those which call themselves civilized. 
This memoir is timely in its issue, for" with a tolerable acquaint- 
ance with prehistoric archaeology in Europe, America and parts of 
Asia, such as we now possess, comparative studies on the prehis- 
toric remains of a people so old as the Japanese, and with such an 
interesting geographical position, would prove highly suggestive 
and of very considerable value. And here it may be observed, 
parenthetically, that it is claimed by the author, "that there is no 
other country in the world where so -teat a number of gentlemen 



44 Recent Literature. [January, 

interested in archaeology can be found as in Japan." Indeed there 
is a native archaeological society in existence which holds regular 
meetings. 

The Omori mounds lie six miles from Tokio, about half a mile 
from the shores of the Bay of Yeddo, and as shell mounds are 
naturally cast up near the shore, this indicates that the land has 
been elevated since their formation. These mounds differ from 
those of Denmark and New England by the great amount of pot- 
tery contained in them, by the great scarcity of stone implements, 
and by the absence of arrow-heads, spear-points and other pointed 
implements of stone, not a single arrow-head, flake or chip having 
been found after prolonged search, though rude stone hammers, 
celts and rollers, and instruments of bone occurred; but any orna- 
ments for personal adornment, such as are worn by the Ainos, 
were entirely absent. While the remains of the monkey, deer, 
wild boar, wolf and dog occurred, the human bones were found 
to have been broken, " either with the object of extracting the mar- 
row or for convenience of cooking in vessels of too small dimen- 
sions to admit them at length," while the bones were, in some 
cases, " strongly marked with scratches and cuts." These evi- 
dences of cannibalism are paralleled by those of the aborigines of 
Florida. Flattened tibiae also occurred. The author also com- 
pares the shells found in the mounds, and discovered that much 
as on the coast of New England and Florida, they are now less 
abundant and smaller. While changes in the relative propor- 
tions of the shells of certain molluscs have taken place, the 
modifications in the relative size and proportions of certain 
species being considerable, and seeming to indicate " either 
that species vary in a much shorter time than had been sup- 
posed, or else that deposits presenting these peculiarities have a 
much higher antiquity than had before been accorded them." 
The differences seemed to be decided, though still within specific 
limits, and to have been produced at a minimum of 1500 to 2000 
years, Japanese history extending back thus far. 

The plates, printing and manufacture of the book is of Japan- 
ese origin, a Japanese as well as an English edition having been 



Growth as a Function of Cells. 1 — Under this title Mr. 
Minot discusses the subject of the increase of bulk, weight, etc., 
which attends the development of an individual organism from 
the one-celled egg-stage to maturity and death. The exponential 
formulae presented, expressing the rate and consequences of 
growth, are just about as unsatisfactory as they well can be, and, 
while we would not for a moment doubt the accuracy of Mr. 
Minot's facts, the attempt to express the laws of growth, which 

l Grmoth 'as a Function of Cells. Hv (H. Sedgwick MlNor. Proceedings Boston 
Soc. Nat. Hist., 1878-79. Vol. xx, Pt. 11, p. 190. 



i88o.] Recent Literature. 45 

are themselves determined by the incidence of variably potent 
forces which again interact variably, producing variable resultants, 
the propriety of expressing biological equations by x, y, gen- 
erations by n, and their variables by ± n, powers of these or any 
other desirable arbitrary symbols, becomes apparent. The results 
to science of this method of treating the subject, while perfectly 
proper and right if a person chooses so to state them, may be 
fairly questioned. 

There seems just now to be a mania amongst biologists for 
re-naming things when they remodel old definitions. Although 
Huxley may define the individual as the result of the develop- 
ment of a single egg, and Haeckel define and call it a person, a 
virtual ox an actual bion ; our author now under notice, thinking 
that, because it has recently been discovered that the ovicell, by 
impregnation, becomes blended with the spermatozoon, justifies 
him in coining a new term derived from that much-tortured 
Greek word from which so much bioXogy has been extracted, for 
re-christening the individual under the name of biad. The nomi- 
nal rubbish of scientific literature is acquiring huge proportions ; 
for we already have for the cell, . bioplast, amoe- 

boid ; and for special forms of it, terms too many to catalogue 
here. On this ground the proposition to re-name an old thing is 
ill-advised, and it may be doubted whether zygote, the name pro- 
posed for the result of the fusion of the male and female cell 
elements in certain plants, by Strasburger, may not properly 
supercede biad, while the word gamete, proposed by the same 
author, will answer all practical purposes in designating the 
reproductive elements of separate sexes. When one is worried 
with getting at the import of some recently coined term, so often 
needlessly imposed by some of the evolutionary school of scien- 
tific thinkers, Haeckel and his followers especially, it is refreshing 
to turn to the pages of Darwin or Spencer, often to find the same 
questions treated in much better and plainer every-day En- 
glish.— % A. R. 

Williamson's Fern Etchings. 1 — The dual character of this 
fine work makes it no less valuable to the amateur fern student 
and advanced pteridologist than to those who admire ferns for 
their beauty alone, as by adopting the geographical range of 
" Gray's Manual," and accompanying his plates with descriptive 
text, the author, while professing only to present a series of life- 
like fern etchings, has really given to us a complete hand-book of 
all the species found growing in the Northern, Middle and East- 
ern States, and, in the present edition, the Dominion of Canada. 

The clear, concise descriptions and faithful representations of 
the ferns themselves, will make this book an invaluable and indis- 

' Fern Etching. By John Wn.l.lAMSox, author of the « Ferns of Kentucky." 
L'uI.IUhetl I»y |,.hn I'. Mmi-l.- \ Co., Lunelle, Kv. 1S70. 2,1 edition. 70 illiMm- 
tions. Price $7.50. 



4.6 Recent Literature. [January, 

pensable companion to fern collectors ; while those who look 
upon ferns as beautiful objects to be admired rather than studied, 
will find enough in these charmingly executed etchings of Mr. 
Williamson to satisfy and delight them. 

The etchings, which are printed direct from the original cop- 
perplates, and in the present edition by the author himself, are 
beautiful examples of the author-artist's special work, and will 
add greatly to his reputation as a faithful interpreter of fern life. 

The desire to obtain copies of Mr. Williamson's fine etchings 
printed direct from his own plates, has led to the publication of 
the present work, and, as the number of copies printed must 
necessarily be limited on account of the expense of the etchings, 
those wishing copies will need to send for them early. No fern 
library will be complete without a copy. — G. E. Davenport. 

Recent Books and Pamphlets.— Bulletin of the United States Geological and 
Geographical Survey of the Territories. Vol. v, No-., i & 2. Svo, pp. 330, pis. II. 
Washington, Sept. 9, 1879. From the Department of the Interior. 

S iiue supp .-<_ i i -m1< f me Pennsylvania- 

Maryland line. By Persifor Frazer, Jr. 8vo, pp. 277-279, 1 pi. (Ext. from Proc. 
Am. Philos. Soc, April 4, 1879.) From the author. 

The Gardener's Monthly ami Horticulturist, Vol. xxi, No. 250, Oct., 1879- 
From the publisher. 

Der Irrthum d< ogeographisch erlautert an einigen Pflanzen- 



(Ext. 


from Leipziger 


Geogr. Gesells. 


, 1879.) From the author. 




Ueb 




laft von Algen 


mit Phanerogamen. Von. D 


r. Otto Kuntze. 






eperat-Abdruck 


aus Flora, 1S79.) From the 1 




Seei 


ng and Thinki. 


ig. By the late 


■ William Kingdon Clifford, F 


R.S. (Nature 


' 


) Sm.8vo,pp 


. 156. Macmtl 


Ian & Co., London, 1879. Fro 


m J. B. Lippin- 


' The 


Laramie Grtm, 


> of Western Wyoming and adjacent region 


By A. C. Peale, 


MI). 




too. (Ext. fro 


m I! all. U. S. Geog. and Geol 


. Surv., Vol. V, 




) Washington 


, Sept. 6, 1879. 


From the author. 




Om 




us X.xsua Storr) 


. By J. A. Allen. 8vo, pp. I 


S3- 1 74- (Ext. 


iom the Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog 


ington, Sept. 6, 


[879-) 










'The 
1870. 




nal of Science 


and Arts, No. 196, 197, Vol. X 


:vn,Oct.,Nov., 



Fdgia 


u Carhonilerous 


Limestone. Bohemia 


■ 


By V 


Crane. Svo, 






Mag., Decade 




vr, 1879.) Fr 




author. 










[878. 


Svo, pp. 520- 


Is. V. 




■ the direction 




Smithsonian Ins 






S79. 1 


'rom the Depart 


ment of the In 










R..-porl 


; on the Geology of the Henry 










id 5 •' 




■*. (U.S. Geo 






the Rocky Mountain 


-.■..■,.. 1 


' W " Powe11 in ' 


:harge.) Wasl 


:ongton. 


1877. Trom t 


he Department of the 


Kq>.' 


on the Lands of the Arid region of the United States, 


with a 


more detailed 



account of the Lands of Utah. By J. W. Powell. (Second edition.) 4to, pp. 195, 
and three maps. Washington, 1879. From the Department of the Interior. 

Man. Nos. 18 and 19, Oct. 5 and 7, 1S79. New York. From the editors. 

Boletin del Ministerio de Fomento de la Republic* Mexican*. Tome iv, No. 100, 
August 21, 187.), to No. cxi, Sept. 16, 1S79. Mexico. Folio. From the Directors 

Geological Survey of Canada. A. C. R. Selwyn, director. Report of Progress 
for 1877-78, with 4 maps. 8vo, pp. 519 (pagination not consecutive). Montreal, 
Dawson Brothers, 1879. 

RathLun. 8vo, pp. 139-158. June, 1879. (Ext. from Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. 
v.) From the author. 

The Field and River. 410, Vol. II, No. II, Sept., 1879* From the editor. 

Catalogue of the Reptilia and Amphibia of Michigan. By W. II. Smith, M.D.. 
Ph.D. 4to, pp. vni. (Suppl. to Science News.). 1879. From the author. 

Bulletins de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, ier et 2e fascicules. 8vo, pp. 

Classification and Description of the American species of Characese. By B. D. 
Halstead. 8vo, pp. 169-190. (Ext. from Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. xx. 



Practical Mo., t. By W. II. Smith, M.D., Ph.D. 8vo, pp. 

15. (Repr. from The Physician and Surgeon, Ann Arbor, Mich. Sept., 1879.) 
From the author. 

Anales de la Sociedad Espafiola de Historia Natural. Tomo vill, Cuarlerno 2°, 
8vo, pp. 177-384 and 2,-65, pis. III. Madrid, i° Octobre de 1879. From the 

Paleethnologie de l'Antiquite de l'Homme dins les AIpes-Maritimes. Par Emile 



Grotte de Saint-Benoit. Par E. Riviere. 8vo, pp. 4. (Ext. from ] 

Franc, pour l'av. des Sci., 1878.) From the author. 

Grotte de Grimaldi en Italic Par E. Riviere. 8vo, pp. 16, pis. 2. 
Proc. Assn. Franc, pour l'av. des Sci., 1879.) From the author. 

PP-4- I Ext des Cm, Ken, 1. de \, S I < de Numis. et'd'A 
1877.) From the author. 



•, M.D. 8vo, pp. i 
Ryder. Svo, pf 



- 
j 878. Fron 



} 2, pis. 12. Prag, 1879. From 



u i.— Anneli la, G< !,\ ,, '| imu , . 

.nthozoa, Echinodermata, Porifera. By A. E. Verrill. (From the Pro- 
the U. S. National Museum.) 8vo, pp. 42. 
' the Entomologist to the Department of Agriculture, Charles V. Riley. 



M. S. Chal!,; K Expedition 'I,. chidse continued, 
<i Trochus and the Turbinidae, viz : the genus Turbo. 
(Ext.'from the Linnean Society's Journal — Zoology, ^ 



1878-70. Part II. By T. Gwyn Jeffreys. (From the Proc. of the Zoological 
London, June 17, 1879.) 8vo, pp. 36, 2 plates. 

Eighth Annual Report of the Curators of the Museum of Wesleyan Uni 
Middletown, Conn., 1879. 8vo, pp. 15. 

Sur la Structure des Glar 
prealabie). Par M. Jules Macl 



GENERAL NOTES. 
BOTANY. 
Moths entrapped p,y an Asclepiad Plant (Physianthus) 
and killed by Honey Bees.— Towards the last of September, Mr. 
John Mooney, of Providence, an observing man, brought us a 
stalk of Physianthus albens, an Asclepiad plant originating in 
Buenos Ayres, with the bodies of several moths (Plusia precationis) 
hanging dead by their proboscides or maxillae. It was found that 
the moths had, in endeavoring to reach the pollen pockets, been 
caught as if in a vise by one of the opposing edges of the five sets 
of hard horny contrivances covering the pollinia. A few days 
after, Mr. Everett A. Thompson, of Springfield, Mass., wrote us, 
that he had a plant of the same species which had caught a num- 
ber of moths of several species, and that in some cases only the 
heads and tongues of the moths were left, and he attributed this 
dismemberment to birds, but wrote in the same letter that his 
father had seen bees sting the moths while alive and struggling. 
He sent me one of the moths, which proved to be a Plusia preca- 
tionis, the same species as we had observed in Providence, and a 
honey bee {Apis meUifica) which had been seen by his father to 
attack the moths, and which had a pollen mass of the same plant 
attached to one of its fore legs. On writing Mr. Thompson that 
his father's observations were quite new, the hive bee not being 
known to be carnivorous, beyond its well-known habit of stinging 
and killing the males of its own species and the bee moths 
invading its cells, his father, Rev. L. Thompson, of North Wo- 
careful observer, kindly prepared the following 



i88o.] Botany. 49 

" I cannot undertake to give an account of my observations of 
the plant, moths and bees, concerning which inquiry is made, from 
the standpoint of a scientist, which I do not claim to be, but after 
pretty close watching, continued for many days, I feel quite confi- 
dent of the general correctness of the following statement : 

"Early in September, of the present year, as I made one of my 
daily visits to the plant, to me unknown before, the Physianthus 
albens, or Arauja, I noticed among the many moths that had been 
caught in the flowers, a considerable number of tongues still in 
the traps, while all, or nearly all, else belonging to the recent 
captives had disappeared. While I stood gazing, my attention 
was arrested by two or three bees buzzing immediately around 
as many entrapped moths that were alive and struggling to get 
away. Every moment or two, the bee suddenly and furiously 
darted upon the prisoner and seemed to me to sting it despite its 
desperate efforts to escape. This onset was generally instantane- 
ous, but was repeated again and again, and, after the moth became 
still and apparently lifeless, the bee settled upon it, and, if my eyes 
did not greatly deceive me, began to devour it. I had previously 
noticed the tongues but supposed the bodies of the moths had 
been eaten by birds, though I had not actually seen it done. I 
cannot therefore positively assert what seemed to me the fact at 
the time, though I had no other thought, and the fact that so 
many of the moths had actually disappeared, leaving only their 
tongues, and, in some cases, other fragments of their bodies, in the 
shape of legs clinging to bits of casing or skin, satisfied me that the 
bees had really feasted on animal food as well as upon the nectar 
of surrounding flowers. 

" I did not suppose it to be the honey bee at the time, but a 
kind of wasp, such as or similar to that whose nest I had some- 
times found in sodded banks or terraces and looked upon as an 
architectural wonder. Yet I did not examine it, and can only say 
that I saw many, or supposed I did, upon a bed of Nasturtiums 
and other flowers, a few feet distant from the Physianthus. 

"I think I have found as many as three or four different kinds 
of moths upon the plant, besides numerous small black flies 
which, unlike the moth, go down bodily into the flower. 

" L. Thompson. 

" North Woburn, Oct. 2g, 1879." 

Upon writing Dr. Hermann Mi'iller in reference to these fact<?\ 
he replied as follows: 

"Lippstadt, Nov. 10, [879. — Physianthus albens has been ob- 
served by Delpino as being visited by humble bees and fertilized 
by their proboscis. It is a new and very interesting fact that 
Plusia prccationis is caught by the flowers of this plant and has 
been found dead suspended by its proboscis. About carnivorous 
habits of bees, my brother Fritz, in south Brazil, has observed that 
honey bees (but I do not t\ im ,,«'», r toi \\\c moment whether Apis 



50 General Notes. [January, 

- or stingless Brazilian honey bees) licked eagerly the juice drop- 
ping from pieces of flesh which had been suspended in order to 
be dried in the open air. Nothing else as far as I know has ever 
been published on the carnivorous habits of bees; I hope, there- 
fore you will soon publish your very interesting observations." 

We have also received the following letter from Mr. Darwin, 
dated Down, Beckenham, Kent, Nov. 23d. " I never heard of 
bees being in any way carnivorous, and the fact is to me incredi- 
ble. Is it possible that the bees opened the bodies of the Plusia 
to suck the nectar contained in their stomachs ? Such a degree 
of reason would require repeated confirmation and would be very 
wonderful. I hope that you or some one will attend to the sub- 
ject." 

We have also received the following note from Prof. Gray in 
reference to the subject: " It has long been familiar, and must 
several times have been recorded, that moths or butterflies and 
other insects are caught by getting their tongue, proboscis or legs 
into the chink between adjacent wings of the anthers in Pftystanthus 
or Arauja albens, and Asclepias, etc. The anther-wings are very 
rigid, the groove between them narrows gradually upwards, so 
that when a leg or proboscis is engaged, an upward pull only fixes 
it more securely, and the unhappy insects seem rarely to pull 
backward or downward, which is the only way to get disengaged. 
As to the rest of your account I know nothing; and should say 
that the observations need, if not ' repeated confirmation,' at 
least some confirmation by an entomological observer." 

It appears from the fact that the single worker bee received 
had a pollen-mass attached to one of its fore legs, that it visited 
the plant originally for the sake of its nectar. For what purpose 
did it attack, kill the moths and, as is claimed, " devour " them ? 
We publish the observations of Mr. Thompson and the comments 
upon them, with the hope that the subject will receive attention 

Since this note has been put in type, Prof. A. J. Cook, of the 
Agricultural College of Michigan, well known as an apiarian of 
experience, informs us that u h n the lure, honey bee workers in 
killing the drones tear them in pieces with their mandibles rather 
than sting them, and that he has seen them thus kill a humble 
bee that had entered the hive; it thus appears, what we judge will 
be quite new to entomologists, that the honey bee uses its mandi- 
bles, at least on some occasions, as weapons of attack, quite as 
much as the sting ; this would also corroborate the exactness of 
Mr. Thompson's observations.— A S. Packard, Jr. 

Prof. Hef.r on Sequoia.— At the recent meeting of the Hel- 
vetic Society of Natural Sciences, Professor I leer read a paper in 
the Botanical section, on the pakeontological history of Sequoia. 
This genus is now represented by only two distinct species, form- 
ing the celebrated forests of big trees in California, and known to 



botanists as .S. sempe, 
the genus attained it 
epoch, though it was before largely represented in the Cretaceous. 
Between the two types above named, palaeontological collections 
have furnished as many as 24 fossil species; of which number 14 
belong to the Tertiary, and 10 to the Cretaceous. The lower 
chalk alone furnishes 5, two of which, strange to say, are closely 
similar to the surviving species (if not identical). Sequoia has 
not, as yet, been found in Jurastic formations, though these are rich 
in Coniferae. 

Botanical Notes.— The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 
for October, contains notes on the flora of the Lake Superior 
Copper region, by A. Hollick, and descriptions of the new fungi, 
by F. Baron Thueman. In the Botanical Gazette for Novem- 
ber, C. H. Peck describes new species of fungi ; T. Meehan remarks 
on Viscidity as a seed-distributor; while Dr. Gray notices Vaccin- 

ium macrocarpon, var. intermtdium of the Columbia river. To 

the California Horticulturist for November, Mr. B. B. Redding 
contributes a note on the valuable edible qualities of the camass 
root, which is extensively used as an article of food by the In- 
dians of the western Territories and the Pacific slope. In 

Trimen's Journal of Botany for November, Mr. S. H. Vines de- 
scribes the alternation of generations in the Thallophytes. The 
recent deaths of Mr. John Miers in the yid year of his age, and 
of Fenzel, the Austrian botanist, are announced. 

ZOOLOGY. 1 

Changes in the Shell of Limn,ea megasoma produced by 
Confinement.— In a paper by R. P. Whitfild, read at a late meet- 
ing of the Boston Society of Natural History, and entitled, 
" Description of the animal of Lymiuca megasoma Say, with some 
account of the changes produced by confinement in aquaria and 
under unnatural conditions," Mr. Whitfield states that he suc- 
ceeded in keeping alive a specimen of this species in an isolated 
position in an aquarium in his house at Albany. These speci- 
mens were obtained at Burlington, Vt, in the summer of 1867. 
Two of them speedily died, but the third one survived the change 
to its new abode until the following spring. In February it laid 
eggs supposed to have been unimpregnated. After twenty days the 
animals escaped from the eggs. In the spring of 1868 many of 
these were removed to localities in the vicinity of Albany. 
During February, 1869, those of this lot still remaining in the 
aquarium deposit d their 1 ggs, and ,v.;,\\\\ during the early part of 
the following summer. 

From the winter brood, specimens were reared which deposited 
eggs iu the early part of 1870. 

'The department* of ( hnithology and Mammalogy are conducted by Dr. Elliott 



52 General Notes. [January, 

The first and second generations were each smaller than the 
parent stock, and this last, a third generation, had a shell only 
about four-sevenths as long as measured by the figures. 

The animals of Lymnaea are perfect hermaphrodites, combining 
in each individual both male aud female organs, therefore it is 
not likely that the original ancestor of Mr. Whitfield's group was 
a deficient specimen. Nevertheless, besides the diminished size 
and spire, Mr. Whitfield found that the male organs had disap- 
peared and the liver become considerably reduced in size. A 
dioecious species had, therefore, in all probability become a monoe- 
cious one on account of its removal to the aquarium. 

This paper reminds us very strongly of the researches of Carl 
Semper upon Lymnaea, in which he shows that the supply of 
food and other things being equalized in a number of aquaria, 
that the size of the shells depends upon the temperature. A low 
temperature being inimical to the development of the largest size 
in any species. 

In this case Mr. Whitfield, who is a palaeontologist well known 
to workers in his own field, did not undertake his researches with 
the idea of conducting an experiment, but has, nevertheless, 
brought out a very similar series of modifications. Curiously 
enough, however, he took a species which reaches a very large size 
in northern waters, and introduced it to the almost tropical cli- 
mate of a home aquarium. 

Mr. Whitfield has certainly been very fortunate in leading the 
way into this field of research in experimental zoology with so 
suggestive a paper. — A. Hyatt. 

Influence of Poisons on Crustacea. — The influence of some 
of the principal poisons on Crustacea has lately been experimented 
on by M. Yung. The animals treated were the crab and lobster. 
It was found that curare acts on these animals in the same way 
as on vertebrates, but with much less power; it produces difficulty 
of movement, which may go the length of complete paralysis. 
Strychnine, again, acts with extreme violence, causing strong 
(though temporary) tetanus. The muscular exhaustion is quicker 
than in vertebrates. A crab will live a long time in water charged 
with sulphate of strychnine, which shows that the poison is not 
absorbed by the branchiae. Sulphate of atropine never caused 
death. The animal seems to eliminate this poison after a period 
of debility, preceded by tremblings. Digitahne quickens (shortly), 
then renders slower, the heart's movements. The action of nico- 
tine is characterized by extreme rapidity. This poison is as vio- 
lent for Crustacea as for vertebrates. 

Difference in the Habits of Scalops aquaticus and ScA- 
panus americanus. 1 — A valued correspondent, Mr. Elisha Slade, 
of Somerset, Mass., furl- <:• a,K I differences in the habits of the 



i88o.] Zoology. 53 

common and the hairy-tailed moles. According to his observa- 
tions, the latter prefer rather dry ground, while the former is suffi- 
ciently fond of low moist soil to merit its specific name, aquqtkus. 
Though the common mole is not aquatic in the sense a mink or 
muskrat is, it voluntarily enters the water and procures a part of 
its food in that element, such as water bugs, worms, &c. It is 
known in Mr. Slade's locality as the marsh or water mole, the 
hairy-tailed being called the upland mole. — Elliott Cones, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

The Cotton-worm Moth in Rhode Island. — On the evening 
of the 30th of September, a specimen of Alctia argillacea flew into 
my study, in Providence. The moth was in a perfectly fresh con- 
dition and bore every appearance of having quite recently emerged 
from the chrysalis. Its appearance certainly did not bear out the 
theory that all the northern individuals fly northward from the 
cotton belt. Several years ago I captured, in August, on Coney 
Island, in Salem harbor, Massachusetts, .several fresh specimens, 
which indicated that they had originated not far from, if not on, 
the little islet on which they were flying in the day time.— -A. S. 
Packard, Jr. 

Notes on Phyllopod Crustacea.— We have received from 
Florida, through Mr. C. Gissler, a new Branchipus-like form 
which may be called ms. While the females 

of this genus do not present decided diagnostic characters, the 
male is distinguished by the form of the claspers, whose tips, 
when drawn forcibly straight out, will reach to the end of the last 
pair of feet. The two basal filaments are as in 5. texensis Pack. ; 
of the forceps at the end of the claspers, the filaments are much 
shorter and smaller than in 5. texensis, so much so that there is 
no need of confounding the two species, and besides in the Flor- 
idian species the processes are less broad and flat, and the inner of 
the two blades of the forceps have but one instead of two teeth. 
While of the same size as 'v h > <u mi, the male claspers are very 
much larger, and they are longer than in S. ivatsom Pack., from 
Kansas ; with the latter species it need not be confounded. It 
approaches S. texensis nearest in the robustness of the body, in 
the form and size of the caudal appendages, which are much 
stouter than in the other two species, and equal, in length, the 
three last abdominal segments. It seems to approach ..V. simUis 
Baird, which inhabits St. Domingo, but that species is not 
described with sufficient exactness to enable us to compare it 
properly. 

From Mr. Gissler we have also received specimens ot Limnetts 
gottldii Baird, found by him in March and April, on Long 
Island. From Mr. R. 1 . Whitfield we have received specimens 
of Estkeria zvatsom Pack collected bv Dr. C. A. White on the 
Vermilion river, Colorado, in comp.mv with Lcfidurus Inlohatus 
Pack.— A. S. Packard, jr 



54 General Notes. [January, 

The White Bellied Swallow (Iridoprocne bicolor). — In the 
Naturalist for November, 1879, p. 706, Mr. Allinson notes hav- 
ing seen swallows, at Beach Haven, N. J., which he took for the 
bank swallow, Coy lie riparia, and that he was surprised to find in 
their excrement the seeds of the Bayberry. I think there can be 
no doubt that the species was the white-bellied swallow, Irido- 
procne bicolor, which does feed in part on the waxy fruit of 
Myrica cerifera. Seventeen years ago I kept the /. bicolor as a 
pet, giving it the freedom of a room, in one corner of which I 
kept a bush of the bayberry, or American myrtle, changing it, as 
soon as the berries were picked off. I also fed it with house flies, of 
which it was very fond. The bayberry is a hard nut-like seed, and 
its cinereous or whitish covering of wax is a mere pellicle. As 
food for the birds, it amounts to little, unless it can have it in 
large quantity and very often. If, so far as known, the bicolor is 
exceptional among the swallows in this matter of a mixed diet, I 
think it is equally so in its habits, for it is far less aerial, and more 
terrestrial, than the other members of its tribe. Of the nearly 
one hundred species of swallows in the world, it seems to me that 
I. bicolor, which is peculiarly American, is an eminently special- 
ized type. 1 — S. Lockwood, Freehold, N. J. 

Vibration of the Tail in Racers. — In the September number 
of the Naturalist, Mr. F. H. King states he has observed the 
fox snake {Coin her vulpinus Cope) making a buzzing noise by 
rapidly vibrating the tail. In the November number, Mr. C. Aldrich 
makes a similar statement in regard to C. obsoletus var. confinis 
B. & G. ; I have, in a number of instances, observed the same 
habit in C. enwryi Cope, which is a common species with us. I 
have never known the noise to be made, unless his snakeship was 
first directly disturbed or teased. The sound is usually made by 
elevating from three to four inches of the tail at an angle of near 
70 from the horizon, then giving it a very rapid lateral motion. 
When it strikes leaves or other loose objects, there is, in addition 
to the buzzing sound, the rattling noise of the objects struck, 
proving that the first sound is probably produced by the rapid 
vibrations of the tail in the air. As this habit has been observed 
in three of the six species of this genus, may it not be true of all 
belonging to it?— J. Schneck, Mt. Carmel, III. 

Fork-tailed Eumeces fasciatus and the Variableness 
of this Species. — During the last few years the periodical litera- 
ture has been quite prolific with notes on monstrosities in the 
animal kingdom. Prof. J. Wyman reported a specimen of the 
common garter snake (Eutamia sirtalis) with two heads. Mr. 
J. W. A. Wright gives an account of a gopher snake {Pity op/us 
sp. ?) ; Dr. H. C. Yarrow describes a specimen of Ophibolus 

the genu* InJofroon, Litely proposed l>\ us, I ;ml>/l olorado Valley, p. 412, 1S78. 



i88o.] Zoology. 55 

gluteus, and Mr. J. S. Kingsley mentions a specimen in Will- 
iams College museum, in all of which there are two heads. Mr. 
J. S. Kingsley also mentions a five-legged frog (Rana palustris 
Le Conte) taken near Rochester, N. Y. ; and Mr. J. Stauffer also 
mentions a similar specimen of the same species taken near Lan- 
caster, Pa. In the Oblogist for August, 1879, mention is made of 
two specimens of ruffed grouse (lionasa umbellus) one of which 
had ten and the other twelve toes. Mr. W. N. Lockington gives 
an account of a one-toed deer, and finally, Dr. E. Coues describes 
a race of one-toed hogs. 

To the above I wish to add, that I have seen three specimens 
of our common blue-tailed lizard {Eumeces fasciatus S.) with 
forked tails. The specimens were all taken near New Harmony, 
Ind. Two are now in the collection of Mr. J. Sampson, of that 
place. The two prongs are near the same length, and as I 
remember, near three inches in length in all the examples seen. 
The two prongs form an acute angle of near 35 , and are attached 
to a short stub of the natural tail, which appears to have been 
broken off. I have also seen a number of specimens in which 
part of the tail was gone. Is it not probable that in the forked- 
tailed examples, this member was first broken off, and in the 
restoration this unnatural growth was assumed? While I am 
speaking of Eumeces fasciatus, I will mention the exceeding 
variableness of this species. From the small, blue-tailed, striped 
lizard, three inches in length, to the large, ruby-headed, copper- 
bellied specimen, twenty inches in length and no stripes at all, 
every conceivable grade is found. A comparison of twenty- 
eight specimens show ten well marked stages, each of which, 
taken alone, would make a good species. — % Schneck, ML Car- 
mel, III. 

Zoological Notes. — The Proceedings of the U. S. National 
Museum contain a number of descriptions of marine inverte- 
brates, by Prof. A. E. Verrill ; with notes on New England Isopoda, 
by Mr. Oscar Harger. The material was collected by the U. S. 

Fish Commission. In the Proceedings of the Boston Society 

of Natural History, Vol. 20, Mr. W. H. Patton gives a synopsis 
of the New England species of Colletes. In the Canadian En- 
tomologist for November, Mr. W. H. Edwards describes the egg, 
larva and chrysalis of Argynnis idaiia. It is stated that Prof. Corn- 
stock, Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, is endeav- 
oring to prepare a biological collection of insects on such a scale 
and in such a manner as shall be a credit to the government. 
Special attention has been paid, the past year, to insects feeding 
on clover, the collection now containing over fifty species known 

Jo be destructive to this valuable crop. A catalogue of the 

beetles of Japan, by G. Lewis, enumerates 2227 species. These 
represent many European genera, and in many cases are specifi- 
cally identical with European forms. We have received an 



56 General Notes. [January, 

by Dr. Hermann Miiller on protective i 



excellent cuts. Mr. H. J. Carter, having 



e^ay 

already published an article on the probable nature of the 
of Stromatopora, and a second on its mode of growth, prints a 
third paper on the structure of this fossil, and shows its relation 
to the Hydractinia, in the Annals and Magazine for October. In 
the November number he discusses the nutritive and reproduc- 
tive processes of sponges. Carter and Lieberkiihn have shown 
that Infusoria and particles of Algse are taken in as food by the 
cells of the ampullaceous sacs, whether the cells are ciliated or 
not, while Metschnikoff has shown that the cells of the paren- 
chym (mesoderm) also are alimentary cells. Thus every part of 
the spong-parenchyma is capable of enclosing nutritious material 
and digesting it. 

ANTHROPOLOGY. > 

Anthropological News. — We are pained to hear of the death 
of Mrs. Rev. Stephen Bowers, wife of the eminent archaeologist 
of Santa Barbara, California. She was devoted to her husband's 
labors, accompanying him in all his expeditions, and was herself 
an intelligent collector. 

We have received from the editors of the Journal of the Vic- 
toria Institute, four pamphlet copies of papers from that publication 
bearing the following titles : The Ethnology of the Pacific, by the 
Rev. S. J. Whitmee ; The caves of South Devon and their teach- 
ing, by J. E. Howard; The contemporaneity of man with the 
extinct mammalia, as taught by recent cavern exploration, and its 
bearing upon the question of man's antiquity, by Thomas Karr 
Callard ; The lapse of time since the Glacial epoch, determined 
by the date of the polished stone age, by J. C. Southall. 

Prof. George M. Dawson is the author of a pamphlet, reprinted 
from the Cam ntitled, Sketches of the past and 

present condition of the Indians of Canada. The Indian popu- 
lation of the Dominion is set down at 100,000. 

Dr. Gustav Briihl sends to the Smithsonian Institution a pam- 
phlet of sixteen pages, entitled, Aztlan-Chicomoztoc, eine ethnol- 
ogische Studien. New York, Cincinnati and St. Louis, printed by 
Berziger Brothers. 

Two very interesting brochures from the pen of Prof. Boyd 
Dawkins have reached us. One of them treats of the range of 
the mammoth in space and time, and appeared in the Quarterly 
Journal of the Geological Society for February, 1879. The other 
is upon our earliest ancestors in Britain, constituting No. 6 of 
Science Lectures for the People, and was delivered in Manchester, 
Jan. 18, 1879. 

The Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, Vol. xiv, contains a 
paper, by Prof. W. H. Flower, on the scapular index as a race 
character in man. 

1 Edited by Prof. Oris T. Mason, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. 



TSNo | 



A nthropology. 



57 



The May number of the Journal of the Anthropological Insti- 
tute contains the following papers : Some American illustrations 
of the evolution of new varieties of man, by Dr. Daniel Wilson ; 
A revised nomenclature of the Inter-oceanic races of man, by 
Rev. S. J. Whitmee ; Ethnological notes on the Motu, Koitapu 
and Koiari tribes of New Guinea, by Rev. W. G. Lawes ; Notes 
on a skeleton found at Cissbury, April, 1878, by Prof. Geo. Rolles- 
ton ; Illustrations of the mode of preserving the dead in Darnley 
island and in South Australia, by Prof. W. H. Flower. On page 
402 is the address of the retiring president, giving an abstract of 
the work done during the year. 

Dr. Wilson's paper in the Journal is devoted to a subject upon 
which he has bestowed a great deal of thought, the preservation 
of our aborigines, not by legislation but by a species of natural 
selection, through which a new race of men is being produced 
between the white race and the aborigines. The introduction of 
the black race and the Chinese increases the complexity of the 
problem and awakens some of the most curious questions in 
anthropology. 

The communication of Mr. Whitmee is important, not only on 
account of his long familiarity with the Polynesian races, but also 
for the discussion which followed it. There are two broad and very 
distinct divisions of these people, the dark and the brown races ; the 
dark occupying Australia, the Andaman islands, portions of the 
Indian archipelago and Western Polynesia; the brown being 
found in Madagascar, the Indian archipelago, Formosa, North- 
western and eastern Polynesia, together with New Zealand. Mr. 
Whitmee's division of these races is represented in the following 
table : 

„ . f Andaman Is. 

TWk Rnres I legato < c etc _ 



'ormosan Formosa 



Mr. Wallace, who 



58 General Notes. [January, 

Polynesia to Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel, 
and Prof. Flower, objected to several of the new appellations 
given by Mr. Whitmee. The map illustrating this paper will be 
found in the February number of the Journal. 

The seventh part of Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico is 
entirely devoted to Archaeology, and contains the following 
papers : Codize Mendozino : Ensayo de descrifacion geroglifica, 
by Sr. D. Manuel Orozeo y Berra ; Cosmogonia Azteca, by Prof. 
G. Mendoza; La Piedra del Sol: segundio estudio, by Sr. D. 
Alfredo Chavero ; El Congreso Internacional de Americanistas 
en Europa y el cobre entre los Aztecas, by Sr. D. Jesus Sanchez ; 
Anales de Cuauhtitlan. 

Vol. 1, Part 1, of the Memoirs of the Science Department, Univer- 
sity of Tokio, Japan, is devoted to the Shell Mounds of Omori. The 
author, Prof. Edward S. Morse, having for years studied shell 
heaps in Maine and Massachusetts in company with Prof. Jeffries 
Wyman and Prof. F. W. Putnam, was well qualified for the exami- 
nation of these remains, and has made good use of his opportu- 

These mounds possess those common characteristics which dis- 
tinguish shell deposits throughout the world. They have, like- 
wise, the following special marks: 1. The presence of enormous 
quantities of pottery, of many different shapes, and of an almost 
infinite variety of ornamentation. 2. By the great scarcity of 
stone implements, and the absence of arrow-heads, spear-points 
and other pointed implements of stone. Not an arrow-head, 
flake or chip has been found by the various parties that have been 
there in the interests of the university. 3. The men of the Omori 
period were also cannibals. 4. Peculiar clay tablets or amulets. 
The pottery is minutely described and illustrated by fifteen dou- 
ble lithographic plates. In form and marking it resembles in a 
striking manner the fragments in the Latimer collection, figured 
in the Smithsonian Report for 1876. The tablets are of the 
finest clay, light colored ; two of them have designs in relief, with 
depressed areas ; on the others the figures are cut on a flat sur- 
face. The author ventures a comparison with American tablets, 
but is not able to reach any definite conclusion. 

The opinion of cannibalism is founded on the same evidence as 
is offered by Prof. Wyman, but as savages break human bones for 
other reasons than a design to eat the flesh, the theory must take 
its chances with the rest. With much diffidence we would call 
Prof. Morse's attention to Le Moyne's plate 15, descriptive of the 
Indians occupying, in 1564, the very spot where Prof. Wyman 
found his evidences of cannibalism. " When a battle was fought 
the victors seized upon the enemy and mutilated their bodies in 
the most brutal manner. With cane knives the arms and legs 
were cut around and then severed from the body by blows upon 
the bones from wooden cleavers. The head was also cut around 



i88o.] Geology and Palceontology. 

with these knives, just above the ( 
off. These were then rapidly si 
small round hole, and borne off in triumph towards home, 
together with the arms and legs, suspended upon spears." Upon 
arriving at home they suspended these mangled limbs and 
trophies and danced around them in honor of their victory. 
Again, in arranging the Wilkes collection for the National Mu- 
seum, I was struck with the great number of spear-points made 
of human bones. The question occurred to me then, and has 
been revived by Prof. Wyman, whether any magical effect would 
be attributed to spear-points made of the bones of a brave enemy. 
The absence of pointed bone in Omori would, of course, exclude 
the spear-point or implement theory. In conclusion, we consider 
Prof. Morse's memoir one of the most important contributions to 
archaeology for the year 1879. 

Numbers 3, 4 and 5 of Materiaux contain the following papers 
of interest to general students : Les pierres a bassin et les rochers 
aecuelles dans la Lozere, by G. de Malafosse; A Review of Evans' 
Ancient Stone Implement in Great Britain ; Palaeo-ethnological 
bibliography for the year 1878, by L. Pigorini ; The Tenevieres 
of the Swiss lakes, by Dr. Forel ; The latest archaeological pub- 
lications in the North, the Archaeological Society of Finland, by 
E. Beauvois ; Upon the origin of domestic animals, by G. De 
Mortilet; New anthropological publications in the German 
language ; Study upon ring-money and its use among the Ger- 
mans, b,y Dr. Much. The article by Dr. Forel upon the Tene- 
vieres of the Swiss lakes is a very important one indeed. In M. 
Desor's classic work upon the palafittes of Lake Neuchatel, the 
author describes certain little submerged stone mounds, formed, 
apparently, by heaping rocks around the bases of piles. When 
the lakes subside, the mounds form true islets. Dr. Forel's arti- 
cle is to show that many of these are of geological formation, 
being the natural consequence of a talus forming at the foot of a 

GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 

Thickness of the Ice Sheet on its Southern Edge. — At the 
Saratoga meeting of the American Association for the Advance 
of Science, Professor J. C. Smock spoke of the surface limits of 
thickness of the Continental glacier in New Jersey. The exist- 
ence of a great terminal moraine and a southern limit to the 
glacial drift in New Jersey and the adjacent States, were pointed 
out to the author in 1876, by Professor Geo. H. Cook. In that 
year the southern limit of the glacial drift was traced across the 
State from South Amboy to a point on the Delaware river, near 
Belvidere. Details were -.von of further investigations in tracing 
this lme. The paper considered two questions: — \\ hat was the 
thickness of the ice-sheet along its southern margin; and what 



60 Genet al Notes. [January, 

was the rise of its upper slope northward. The terminal moraine 
represents both materials carried forward under the foot of the 
glacier, and also the earth and stone carried on its surface and 
dropped in a confused mass as it melted and retreated northward. 
These accumulated heaps may in places have equaled in height 
the greatest thickness of the glacier front, although in general the 
moraine would fall short of the height of the glacier. As we see 
it, this terminal moraine raises greatly in height from point to 
point. It is possible to get at a minimum estimate of the thick- 
ness by considering the heights of some of the hills in the moraine. 
It is safe to conclude that the ice front of the great glacier was 
from 200 to 400 feet in thickness. A careful exploration of that 
part of New Jersey, which is north of the terminal moraine, has 
thus far failed to discover any peaks or crests which show no 
marks of a glacier. 

Were the Ichthyosaurs viviparous?-— This is a question 
which Prof. Seeley sought to answer in a paper submitted to the 
Geological Society at a late meeting. From time to time speci- 
mens of Ichthyosaurs have been found, with the remains of small 
saurians preserved inside the body-cavity. Against the suppo- 
sition that these small ichthyosaurs had been devored by the 
larger ones, it may be urged that their state of preservation is 
markedly different from that of the remains of food, such as the 
indigested residuum of fish, which are not unfrequently found in 
the stomach of the Ichthyosaurs. Moreover, the position of the 
small skeletons in relation to the larger ones, with which they are 
associated, is tolerably constant, and is such as to strengthen the 
supposition that the relationship is that of offspring to parent. 
From these and other considerations. Prof. Seeley concludes that 
the Ichthyosaurus must have been viviparous. — Academy. 

Miocene Fauna of Oregon —Prof. Cope recently read a paper 
before the American Philosophical Society, describing additional 
species from the Truckee Miocene of Oregon. Several of these 
were Rodentia, one of which was referred to a new genus, under the 
name of Paciculus. Four were Carnivora, two Canidce and two 
Felidce. A new genus Hyanocyon was proposed for the Enhydro- 
cyon basilatus, with the following dental formula: I. f ; C. T ; Pre-m. 
3 ; M. — . The genus Merycopater was shown to be an Oreodont 
with deficient superior incis'ors. A new genus of Oreodontida 
was described under the name Coloreodon, with the following 
characters: A wide diastema in both jaws. I. |; C. \\ Pre-m. \\ 
M. |. Two species were described, a smaller C. ferox, and a 
larger C. macrocephalus, both of which have remarkably developed 



Pliocene Man. — Special interest 
/hitney's recent volum- upon the ' 



1 8 So.] Geology and Palceontology. 61 

Sierra Nevada," one of the official reports of the geological 
survey of California, though issued by the Museum of Com- 
parative Zoology, because of the full description of the reported 
discoveries of man in the Pliocene Tertiary. These gravels 
are mostly consolidated into rock and are capped by lava, con- 
stituting the Table mountains. The original river valley is 
now completely filled by gravel and lava, so that the stream, 
driven out of its course, has been compelled to wear its way 
to depths varying from iooo to 2000 feet on either side. Hence, 
the following events must have happened subsequently to the 
deposition of the human bones and implements in the bottom 
of the ancient river: (i) deposition of 130 feet of gravel over the 
human remains; (2) overflow of lava, completely filling up the 
valley, so that the river must change its course; (3) wearing 
down of gorges nearly 2,000 feet deep in hard slates on both sides 
of the lava flow, so as to carve out a flat-topped mountain. Much 
time must be required for the accomplishment of these results — 
hundreds of thousands of years, if the wearing of the Niagara 
gorge be taken for the unit of measurement. As glacial deposits 
are not known on the flanks of the Sierras, Whitney relies upon 
the character of the fossils exhumed to determine the age, and de- 
cides that the formation was the Pliocene Tertiary, anterior to the 
glacial drift of the East. The principal fossils are these : Rhinoc- 
erus, Elothcriitm, Mastodon americanns and M. obsatrns, three 
species of horse, a wolf, a deer, HipparUnt, . XucJtema, etc. These 
were determined by Dr. Leidy. Lesquereux describes seventeen 
species of deciduous trees referred to the Pliocene, with sugges- 
tions of the Miocene. Various stone implements, including tools, 
pestles, mortars, platters, spear and arrowheads, are described 
from thirty different localities in eleven counties. Human bones 
were found under Table and in, Bald mountain. All these facts 
are detailed with the utmost care, and it would seem to be clearly 
proved that human bones and implements are found in these 
gravels, associated with what are universally regarded as the 
fauna and flora of the Pliocene Tertiary. This is more satisfac- 
tory than any of the reported discoveries of human flints in the 
later Tertiary of Europe. No one would doubt the correctness of 
Whitney's conclusion if the question did not involve the age of 
man. Now, is it clear that the California Pliocene was the equiv- 
alent of the Eastern American and European Pliocene ? There was 
no true glacial period in the Sierras corresponding to the Great 
Northern Drift; hence, may not the organisms of the Western 
Pliocene period have continued to live on till post-glacial times? 
Two suggestions agree with Whitney's conclusions: (i}the im- 
mense time required to excavate the deep canons would corres- 
pond well with careful estimates of the 'length of the glacial period, 
and it is clear that man antedated the erosion of these valleys. 
(2) The canon-making period in California and over the area of 



62 General Notes. [January, 

the Fortietieth Parallel Survey is probably the equivalent of the 
glacial period of the East. It is so regarded by Clarence King, 
in his " Report," and was certainly subsequent to the time when 
the early men flourished. — N. Y. Independent. 

The preceding abstract suggests the following observations. 
Some of the vertebrata reported as found with the human remains 
in the auriferous gravels are obviously out of place, or erroneously 
determined. Thus, Elotherium does not belong to the Pliocene 
fauna, nor even to the Upper Miocene (Loup Fork) but to the 
lowest Miocene or Oligocene (White river). Mastodon obscimis 
is Upper Miocene. How they come to be included in the list re- 
mains to be explained. 

The occurrence of human implements mingled with the Plio- 
cene fauna in Oregon, was asserted in this journal for 1878, p. 125, 
and some dozen species of vertebrata cited as cotemporaries. A 
more extended list of the mammalia was given in the Bulletin U. 
S. Geol. Surv. Terrs., 1879, P- 48; and of the birds in the same 
for 1 878, p. 389. The entire number of vertebrata now determined 
from this locality in Oregon amounts to twenty-seven. 

During the past summer the writer obtained bones of Mylo- 
don from the auriferous gravels of the Klamath river, near Yreka, 
Cal., from excavations which he personally examined. He also 
obtained vessels of vesicular basalt which were undoubtedly pro- 
cured from the same excavations. 

The relation of this formation to the European Pliocene is dis- 
cussed in an essay on the parallelism of the American and Euro- 
pean horizons, in Hayden's Bulletin U. S. Geol. Surv. Terrs., 
J 879, February. — E. D. Cope. 

GEO&RAPHY AND TRAVELS. 1 
Hayden's New Maps of Wyoming, etc.— The forthcoming 
reports of Dr. Hayden's Geological Survey, on the field-work of 
1877 and 1878, will contain three topographical atlas sheets, of 
the same size, and on the same scale (4 miles to an inch) as those 
in the Colorado atlas. These sheets illustrate portions of Wyo- 
ming, Idaho and Utah, each of them covers 2^ degrees of lond- 
tude, and 1% degrees of latitude, and includes an area of about 
11,000 square miles. 

The south-eastern of the sheets covers the country from longi- 
tude 107 to 109 30', and from latitude 41 ° 45' to 43 ° It includes 
the barren plateaus of the continental divide, north of the Union 
Pacific R. R. The valleys of the Sweetwater and Wind rivers 
and a pa*rt of the Wind River range 

The south-western sheet lies directly west of the latter, extend- 
ing to longitude 112 . It embraces the Green River basin and, 
farther westward, a succession of parallel ranges of no great ' 
1 Edited by Elms H. Yakn4ll, Philadelphia. 



i88o.] Geography and Travels. 63 

height, alternating with broad valleys drained by Bear river and 
branches of the Snake. 

The third sheet lies north of the last, extending to latitude 44 
15'. Besides a small portion of the Snake River plains on its 
western edge, nearly all this area is occupied by rugged moun- 
tains. Among them may be noted the Tetons, the Gros Ventre 
and the northern part of the Wind River ranges. 

The plan of the geographical work has been sketched in some 
detail in previous reports of this survey, and, therefore, nothing 
more than a brief epitome will here be attempted. 

The whole work is based upon a system of triangulation, car- 
ried on with an eight inch theodolite, reading to 10". In the 
scheme there were two base lines measured, one near Fort Steele. 
Wyoming, the other on Bear River, in South-eastern Idaho. Each 
of these was between five and six miles in length. The mean 
error of closure of the triangles in the expansion was 5.3". The 
sides ranged from twenty to seventy miles in length. Altogether, 
forty-nine points were located by the primary triangulation. 

Secondary triangulation was carried on by a theodolite reading 
to minutes. The mean error of closure of secondary triangles 
is 3'. 

The topography was secured from elevated points by map- 
sketches made on an assumed scale, with distances and angles esti- 
mated, and by perspective sketches, on which the topographical 
features were represented as they appeared to the observer at 
his station. All salient points in the landscape, peaks, angles of 
plateau, minor summits and hills, and junctions of streams, were 
located by intersections of sight lines from two or more stations, 
and in plotting the maps, in the office, the map-sketches are cor- 
rected by these locations. On these three sheets, about 3300 
points, including stations, were located, being one in every ten 
square miles. Altogether, between 600 and 700 stations were 
occupied, or about one in each fifty square miles. 

A few words as to the measurements of heights, and the method 
of construction of contour lines. Elevations were measured by 
means of the barometer, and the vertical circle of the theodolite. 
Camps, stations, and all salient points on the routes traversed, 
were measured by the former instrument. Aneroids were used 
but little and the results accepted with great caution. The verti- 
cal circle was used in determining the relative heights of all points 
within range of the stations — all peaks, passes, gaps, heads of 
s purs, etc., in short, everything that could be located, even ap- 
proximately. Thus the heights of a great number of points were 
easily determined, and these, placed upon a perspective sketch, 
which may be supposed to be reasonably accurate, indicate ap- 
proximately the heights of all portions of the sketch. 

Difference of heights are expressed on these maps by contours. 
*ne space between two of these grade curves represents a differ- 



ence of elevation of 200 feet. Where the slopes are gentle the 
curves are far apart, while among the cliffs of the mountains and 
plateaus, they are crowded together, in many places being almost 
run into a single line. 

These curves are not "run," nor are they accurately located, as 
would be done in a minute survey. They do, however, express 
the orography, and, approximately, the elevation, over the whole 

They are constructed mainly from the perspective sketches, 
aided and directed by the measured heights. As an example of 
the method of their construction, take a mountain spur, starting 
from the peak and extending to the valley below. Its summit 
and base, and each point of change of slope, are located, and their 
heights are known ; we have also a profile sketch of the spur. 
Given these data, and what is easier than to distribute the curves 
with a considerable approach to accuracy, between those points 
actually determined. 

This method of representing orography is a strictly natural 
one. Supposing the light to be vertical, grade curves must neces- 
sarily produce the same lights and shades as in nature. All the 
details of the topography, down to forms not above 200 feet in 
height may be expressed. 

For masses for the representation of geological outcrops and 
formations, these grade curves are invaluable. They enable the 
geologist to draw accurately the outcrops not only of horizontal, 
but of inclined strata, over vast areas, from a few' isolated obser- 
vations. In many cases, by thus expressing the orography of 
a range, the key to its geological structure is supplied. 

The maps of this Survey have been justly regarded as among 
the finest specimens of cartography ever published in this or any 
other country. 

African Exploration.— Dr. Rohlf's expedition to Wadai left 
Bengasi on the Fourth of July, last, for the Kufara oasis. The 
oasis of Djalo and Aujila were found to be ninety-eight and sixtv 
feet respectively above the sea level. Heretofore they have been 
thought to be below it. At Kufara the party were attacked 

and plundered and obliged to return to Bengasi. Dr. Oscar 

Lenz, well known for his explorations on the Ogoowe has been 
sent by the German African Society to Morocco where he intends 
to cross the Atlas and investigate the geology and natural history 
of the southern districts. The Society also intends sending young 
travelers to this country, where they can get accustomed to Mo- 
hammedan life and become better fitted for longer journeys in 
Central Africa. The Academy states that Mr. Donald Mac- 
kenzie has returned to England from Cape Juby, in North-west- 
ern Africa, where, during his stay, many people came to enqm'-e 
about trading and stated that there were numerous animals of all 
kinds in the interior, and the country was very fertile. Mean- 



1 880.] Microscopy. 65 

while, the French are proposing to construct a railroad across the 
Sahara to connect Algeria with the river Niger. The French 
Government has appointed a Commission to conduct preliminary- 
investigations, and French engineers are exploring the line of the 
proposed road as far as the Laghouat on the south. M. Paul 
Soleille't will leave shortly for St. Louis, Senegal, under orders to 
visit the unexplored regions lying to the east of that colony as 
far as Timbuktu. The Nature states that at a recent sitting of the 
Paris Geographical Society, Mr. Soleillet read a paper proposing 
that the railroad be made from Dakkar, on the Atlantic coast, 
and St. Louis. The Senegal should be opened to navigation as 
far as Bafoulabe and a canal constructed from thence to Bamakou, 
on the Niger. The Niger is now navigable from Bamakou to 
Timbuktu and lower down for a distance of 1500 miles, The 
a SS re gate expense of the whole work is estimated at $5,000,000, 
and the population brought into close connection with Senegal at 
thirty-seven millions. These projects have been adopted by the 
High Commission and the survey for the canal will begin imme- 
diately. M. Soleillet believes that the semi-civilized races occupy- 
ing the region he is to visit will be friendly to Europeans, and offer 
no obstacles to the success of this great project. The country from 
Senegal to the Niger is level, fertile and inhabited by two races, the 
Bambara and Solenke. Nothing would be easier than the estab- 
lishment of a preliminary trade-road between the two rivers; it 
would suffice to mark out a straight line and clear it of bushes to 
enable a bullock-dray to travel for 200 or 300 miles. Amongst 
other products is a vegetable wax which can be reduced to oil, 

and made to serve many useful purposes in the arts. Drs. Greef 

and Gasser have been despatched on a scientific mission to study 

the Zoology of the West African Islands. By means of the 

electric light the junction of the Algerian survey with the Euro- 
pean net-work of triangles has been completed. One of the 

most important events in African exploration during the past year 
has been the discovery, by two Frenchmen, MM. Zweifel and 
Moustier, of the sources of the river Niger. Starting from Sierra 
Leone they ascended the Rokelle river and succeeded in cross- 
mg the Kong mountains, heretofore impassable in consequence of 
the hostility of the natives, and visited the heads of the three 
streams which, uniting after a short distance, form the Niger. 
MICROSCOPY. 1 
Improvements in Cell-cutting. — Cells cut from thin sheet 
wax or lead are rapidly coming into use. They can be built up 
°ne upon another to form deeper cells, but are most appli- 
cable where great thickness is not required, and have the great 
advantage that they can be prepared, as wanted, by anybody, of 
any required size, with very little trouble, and almost without 

1 This department is edited by Dr. R. H. Ward, Troy, N. Y. 



66 



General Notes. 



expense. The elegant preparations presented by Mr. Merriman . 
at the Buffalo meeting of the American Society of Microscopists 
were mounted in cells of wax cut by punches made by Mr. 
Wm. Streeter, of Rochester. These instruments, as subsequently 
improved and as now made, are represented in section by. Fig. I. 
There is a set of four concentric tubes of iron or hard brass, of 
equal length, fitting smoothly within each other, 
a cutting edge at the lower end. 
When using the punches the cutting edges are to 
be moistened with water to prevent sticking to the 
wax, and the wax laid on some book leaves or 
writing paper to form a firm, smooth cushion. 
The smallest punch is then pushed through the 
" wax sheet with a slightly rotating motion, and 
then the next one is placed over it and pushed 




brought forward bv Dr.R- 
II. Ward, at a recent meeting of the Troy Scientific Association. 
The first was designed by Mr. C. M. Vorce, of Cleveland, O., and 



is represented in front view and 


in sectic 


n in Figs. 3 anc 


can be readily made by amateurs 


for thei 


r own use. It c 


of a wooden body of such size a 


to be c 


asily held and 


between the fingers, with a sho 


rt needle 


point inserted 


center of the lower end. On o 


ne side 


a longitudinal 



the 



groove is cut through the wood deep enough to allow the cut- 
ting edge to approach nearly to the needle. The cutter is of 
steel, one-eighth or three-sixteenths inch wide, as a piece of skirt- 
steel or corset-spring, and is attached so as to lie in the groove 
and press toward the needle. The cutter should be ground to a 









■ face flai 



ed by a bra- 
to hold a sm; 






nly 



pas. 



. thr< 



mg i 



tside, lea 

gh the body of 
■ i dis- 
ced 

farthest limit. The other 
>ted by the Vorce instru- 
nk Ritchie, of Troy. It 
than the other, but is not 



: -ht!e 



duim 



,v near together 
these can be safely cut will soon be learned 
by experience. The legs are then set one- 
quarter inch apart, and using the same centers 
as before, a series of rings can be cut suitable 
for one-half inch covers. By successively 
-P'vadmg the legs one-sixteenth inch further 
each tune, rings "mav be cut around the same 




68 Scientific News. [January, 

Another Journal. — A successor to the late American Quar- 
terly Microscopical Journal is announced, in the form of a monthly 
by the same editor, and in a more popular form. The first num- 
ber is promised for the present month. The editor's name is a 
sufficient guarantee of the scientific spirit and energetic manage- 
ment of the new enterprise, which can scarcely fail, and ought not 
to fail, at the low subscription price of one dollar a year, to receive 
so general a support as to become self-sustaining and perma- 
nent. It is published by Romyn Hitchcock, at 51 Maiden Lane, 
N. Y. 

Adulterations in Food.— The prize offered last summer for 
the best two slides illustrating the adulteration of some common 
article of food, one slide to show the genuine article and the other 
to show an adulterated .form actually sold and used, will be 
awarded at the meeting of the American Society of Microscopists, 
next summer. The donor, Mr. E. H. Griffeth, will substitute for 
the medal promised an objective suitably engraved, if preferred 
by the winner. 

Exchanges. — Fine diatoms and other marine material for 
named diatoms, diatomaceous earths or other good mounted 
objects. — M. A. Booth, Longmeadow, Mass. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
— In the American Journal of Science and Arts for December, 
Prof. James D. Dana, the editor, and who is, we need not remind 
our readers, one of the leading geologists of his time, reprints the 
bill for the establishment of the U. S. Geological Survey of the Pub- 
he Domain, and adds his weighty comments on the " unexpected 
amendment " to this bill introduced by Mr. King, the geologist- 
in-charge, and passed by Congress at the extra session, by which 
the survey is extended over the whole area of the United States, 
including the States as well as the Western Territories. Prof. 
Dana observes that the amendment was not even " presented for 
public discussion, although it bears on the political and industrial 
interests of the country, as well as on the status of science under 
the General Government." Prof. Dana then adds that " Having 
been a member of the National Academy, the writer has felt it a 
duty here to state, that this proposed expansion of the field of 
work under the 'Director of the Geological Survey' is wholly 
foreign to the views expressed in the Report of the Committee, 
and to the opinions brought out in their discussions Moreover, 
it is entirely at variance with the objects set before the committee 
by the Act of Congress requiring its appointment : this act asking 
that the members 'take under consideration the methods and 
expenses ot conducting all surveys of a scientific character under 



i88o.] Scientific News. 69 

the War or Interior Department and the surveys of the Land 
Office, and to report to Congress as soon thereafter as may be 
practicable, a plan for surveying and mapping the Territories of 
the United States on such general system as will, in their judg- 
ment, secure the best results at the least possible cost.' The plan 
set forth by the committee, besides having direct reference to the 
Territories, had in view that economy of expenditure, suggested 
in the act of Congress ; while the new scheme, with the proposed 
enlargement of its scope, would involve — as State geological sur- 
veys have shown — millions of outlay for the strictly geological 
part, and indefinite millions besides for the economical branch— 
the study of 'the mineral resources and products of the National 
Domain,' ' and the States! 

"The writer is not informed as to the character of the discus- 
sion over the proposed amendment in the House of Representa- 
tives. But it seems to be plain, from the change of wording, that 
the meaning intended to be conveyed by it was that the director 
' may extend his examination into States ' which adjoin Territo- 
ries. There is an evident absurdity in an expression which adds 
the States— nearly the whole country— to the Territories. Had 
the general survey of the United States been intended by the 
House, the idea would have been brought out by the simple sub- 
stitution of the words United States for ' National Domain.' " 

Prof. Dana also adds : " A change so great in the administra- 
tion of the affairs of the Government should have a full discus- 
sion btfore it is accepted. It will appear to many that the Con- 
stitution has left to the States the making of their own geological 
surveys and the study of their own economical resources— as 
past history seems to attest— and that such an infringement on 
State rights and assumption of State responsibilities would be 
politically wrong; and also, that investigations into the mineral 
resources of the States, whether of a mine or of a granite quarry, 
would be followed by other evils through encroachments on pri- 
vate rights, and the temptations to favor private enterprises. The 
General Government, unlike many in foreign lands, has no owner- 
ship in the mines of California or of any other of the States, and 
hence has no need to establish a Mining Bureau for the country 
at large." 

Coming from the source it does, this is a weighty protest, and 

U. S. G^oloiVai SiM-vex's ni'i'er' ''llavden iWell and the U. S. 



1 to dev 



i chaige 



' I'm;, 



Western Terntorfes, with excellent results already accomplish. 



7 o Scientific News. [January, 

not only interrupted, but stopped, through the unwise action of a 
handful, not of politicians, but scientists. The result has proved, 
we fear, that it would have been better to have let well enough 
alone, for during the past season little or no geological explora- 
tion has been carried on in the Western Territories ; small parties 
were sent to Leadville and the Eureka mines and the Comstock 
lodes and the California gold fields, no general geological 
work having, apparently, been done at all ! The people want and 
are expending money for more information about the unsurveyed 
lands of the Far West; the scientific world demand and should 
have widely extended and thorough topographical, geological and 
biological surveys of that vast region, such as have been inaugu- 
rated and carried on in the past ; these, as we have always felt 
should be directed by one mind, and for this reason some mem- 
bers of the National Academy voted for the consolidation of the 
different surveys then in the field. For a United States Survey 
of fhe Public Lands to expend a large or moderate proportion of 
its money and means in one or several of the Eastern States, such 
as Tennessee, or one of the New England States, is absurd and 
uncalled for, and interferes with the work that may be going on 
or is in prospect in such State. American scientists hope and 
expect that geological explorations under the new regime will, 
hereafter at least, not be inferior in breadth of treatment, scientific 
accuracy and extent, to what it has been in the past ; certainly 
that the zeal and previous success in field and general geological 
work of the Geologist of the Fortieth Parallel may not be lessened, 
but fulfill the expectations of the American people and scientific 
public. — Editors Naturalist. 

— Prof. B. F. Mudge, formerly Mayor of Lynn, Mass., died in 
Kansas on Friday last. Mr. Mudge was born at Orringford, Me., 
August ii, 1817; his parents removed to Lynn when he was about 
a year old. He attended the common schools until he was 14 
years old, when he went to work at shoemaking, at which he 
worked six years. Then fitting for college he entered Wesleyan 
University, where he graduated in 1840, subsequently taking up 
the study of law. In 1842 he was admitted to the bar and prac- 
ticed his profession at Lynn until 1859. He was elected the sec- 
ond mayor of Lynn, serving in 1852 and 1853. He went West 
and became chemist for the Breckinridge Oil and Iron Company 
of Kentucky. When the war broke out he went to Kansas, and 
in 1863 was appointed State Geologist. In 1865 he was elected 
Professor of Geology and Associated Sciences at the State Agri- 
cultural College, and remained in that position for eight years. 

logical formations of Western Kansas; IL was also^mpioyed 

in Kansas,' and h mid . xC n-ave collection, foi Prof. E. D.Cope, 
in that State, during which he discov red the first specimens of 



i88o.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 71 

toothed birds. Prof. Mudge spent the greater part of his later years 
in camp life beyond the settlements in the employ of Prof. Marsh 
as field geologist for Yale College. He was a member of the Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of Science, and of other 
scientific bodies, and was instrumental in founding the Kansas 
Academy of Sciences, of which he was the first president. In 
1876 the office of State Superintendent of Public Institutions was 
offered him, but he preferred to continue his field work. In 1846 
Mr. Mudge married Miss Mary E. A. Beckford, of Lynn. Six 
children were born to them, of whom three are still living. 

— During his voyage near Behring Straits, Professor Nordens- 
kiold obtained numerous remains of Steller's manatee, of which 
only a few bones have hitherto existed in the St. Petersburg 
Museum. This large Sirenian, it will be remembered, became 
extinct in 1786. 

— The death of A. H. Garrod, F.R.S., Oct. 17th, at the age of 
thirty-four, is announced in the English papers. He was making 
an excellent reputation as a comparative anatomist and physi- 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 

Kansas Academy of Sciences, Twelfth Annual Meeting.— 

Prof B. F. Mudge, the president of the academy, lectured on the ' 

mound-builders of America. Papers were read by the president 

on the metamorphic deposits in Woodson county, and on Indian 
mounds in Davis and Riley counties, also by Dr. A. H. Thomp- 
son on Indian graves near Topeka. The report of the Commis- 
sion on Botany was read by Prof. J. H. Carruth, who announced 
the discovery of about 1 20 species new to the State. A paper was 
read by Hon. F. G. Adams, of Topeka, on the phonetic repre- 
sentation of the Indian language, describing the systems or alpha- 
bets invented by the Cherokee, Sequoyah, and by Mr. Meeker, a 
missionary who formerlv resided in fohnson county. The alpha- 
bet formed bv Mr. Meeker was said "to be adequate to the perfect 
phonetic representation of any Indian language, and books were 
printed in the characters of that alphabet in eleven different 
dialects. 

Boston Society of Natural History, Nov. 5th.— Mr. W. O. 
Crosby spoke on the Evidences of Compression in the Rocks of 
the Boston basin, and Mr. J. W. Feukes on Aoy/a pentagona, and 
its relation to a theory of bilateral symmetry. Nov. 19th. — Mr. 



vity. as observed bv Mi 
''Her remarked on "the 
1 of Boston. 



72 Selected ArticLs ui Scientific Serials. [Jan., 1880. 

Appalachian Mountain Club, Nov. 12. — The councillors 
reported as follows : Mr. J. R. Edwards on topography, Prof. C. 
E. Fay on exploration and Dr. W. B. Parker on improvements. 
Rev. John Worcester described the excursion to Tuckerman's 
ravine, made in connection with the field meeting at North Con- 
way. Prof. Charles R. Cross gave an account of the Congress of 
Alpine clubs, held at Geneva the past summer, which he attended 
as the representative of the club. 

Dec. 10.— Prof. J. H. H. Huntington reported as councillor of 
natural history. Mrs. Phebe M. Kendal presented her report as 
councillor of art. Prof. E. S. Morse read some notes on Japan, 
illustrated by the large maps of Japan recently received by, the 
club. A copy of Prof. Guyot's 1 
tains, presented by the author, \ 
papei* written by him, was read. 

American Geographical Society, Nov. 18. — The Earl of Dm 
raven read a paper on moose and caribou hunting in the wilds < 
Canada. Dec. 9. — Rear Admiral Ammen presented a paper c 
. the proposed inter-oceanic ship canal across Nicaragua. 

New York Academy of Sciences, Section of Biology, Dec. 
paper on the proboscis of tl 



SELECTED ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

American Journal of Science and Arts, Dec. 15th— Artificial 
fertilization of oyster eggs, and embryology of the American 
oyster, by W. K. Brooks. Origin of the Lcess, by G. C. Brod- 
head. New Jurassic reptiles by O. C. Marsh. 

Geological Magazine, Nov. — Further notes upon the form of 
volcanoes, by J. Milne. 

Jenaische Zeitschrift fur Naturwissknsciiaft, Oct. 29— On 
the comparative anatomy of the digestive system of birds, second 
part, by H. Gadow. The distribution of the fresh and brackish 
water fishes of Africa, by C. Dambeck. The anatomy and his- 
tology of the actinians with special reference to the nervo-mus- 
cular system, by O. and R. Hertwig. 

SlEBOLD UND KiiLLIKER's ZEITSCHRIFT FUR WlSSENSCHAFTLICHE 

Zoologie, Oct. 29th — Researches on the structure and develop- 
ment of sponges, eighth part, by F. E. Schultze. Germ layers 
and formation of the organs of Echini, by E. Selenka. Contri- 
butions to the natural history of the Daphnida, by A. Weismann. 
Annales des Sciences Natureixes, Sept., 1878 (just received) 
— On the scales of teleosaurian fishes, by M. Carlet. On the 
geographical distribution of bats compared with that of other ter- 
restrial mammals, by M. Trouessart. 



THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xiv. — FEBRUARY, 1880. — No. 2. 

OBSERVATIONS UPON THE HABITS, STRUCTURE 
AND DEVELOPMENT OF AMPHIOXUS LANCE- 
OLATUS. 

HY HENRY J. RICE. 

[Concluded ' f;\ n '//« January number *.] 
Nervous System. — This system consists of a central and a per- 
ipheral portion. The central portion, or chorda spinalis, is a long, 
slender, slightly tapering body, nearly round in section, and ex- 
tends from the posterior to within a short distance of the anterior 
extremity of the dorsal aspect of the notochord. The anterior end 
is somewhat larger, for a short distance, than the rest of the chor- 
da, and forms a sort of elongated head with a short, pointed, beak- 
like termination, which lies close upon the notochord. Upon the 
left side of this "head," and near the vm\ or anterior portion, there 
i-s a slight cone-like projection, which is in close proximity to and 
points towards the ciliated pit or depression of the left side of the 
body. This projection is considered to represent a single olfac- 
tory nerve or lobe, and if the pit is indeed a nasal fosse, then 
undoubtedly this protuberance is an olfactory organ. With the 
exception of this nerve or lobe this end of the chorda does not 
Present the slightest indication of the divisions or lobes which 
form the brain of all other vertebrates. 

The posterior extremity of the chorda makes a short upward 
b cnd, at nearly right angles to its former direction, and expands 
just above the end of the notochord, into a small, button-like ter- 
mination, which probably through some accident in finishing the 
Plate, is not shown in the figure of the adult animal. Between the 
two ends and along the center of the chorda there extends a nar- 
row canal, which is of considerable size in the head portion, where 
" ,s cn dosed by the anterior walls, but gradually diminishes m 
calibre towards the posterior extremity, where it is represented by 



74 Observations upon the Habits, Stntcture and [February, 

the merest traces of a cleft or opening, as seen in the center of the 
M button " of this end. 

The sides of this canal, throughout its entire length, are 
marked by small, black, roundish pigment spots, which are some- 
times aggregated into small clusters, but more commonly are 
scattered along at varying intervals from each other. In the sub- 
• stance of the anterior, beak-like extremity, and just in front of 
the end of the central canal, there is a large pigment spot which 
is generally thought to represent the rudiments of a median eye ; 
but if it does not, then Amphioxus is entirely lacking in such an 
organ. Prof. Quatrefages, in 1845, 1 described and figured a 
prominent protuberance as existing upon the side of the cord at 
this end, and claimed that it showed at its extremity a distinct 
and rather well-developed crystalline lens, thus representing a 
stalked eye, with the staik pointing towards the anterior extrem- 
ity of the body ; but later observers have failed to confirm his 
observations in this respect, the only short protuberance which is 
formed along this portion being considered as representing, as 
already mentioned, an olfactory rather than an optic organ. 

The peripheral portion of the nervous system consists of a suc- 
cession of pairs of nerves given off from the upper part of the 
sides of the chorda dorsalis along its entire length. They originate 
in single roots, and arise at intervals corresponding to the divis- 
ions between each two of the muscle plates. With the excep- 
tion of the first and last pairs, all the nerves are of nearly uniform 
size, and, with the same exceptions, they pass outward and down- 
ward branching two or three times in their course, to be distributed 
along the middle and lower portions of the sides of the body. 
Besides the lower branches, each of these nerves sends off, at a 
short distance from its origin, a branch which proceeds upwards to 
the dorsum of the animal, Fig. 6, PI. 11. The nerves, which form 
the first pair, arise anterior to the body muscles and from the 
anterior portion of the head of the chorda. They are quite large 
at their bases, and extend straight forward from the sides of the 
chorda towards the anterior end of the body, dividing in their 
course into a large number of branches which are distributed 
above and below, and all about the extremity of the notochord. 
These branches terminate, or at least many of them do, in the 
cells of the exoderm, or else in small bell-like knobs which are 
wedged in among the exodermic cells, and resemble them very 

1 Annates des Sciences Naturelles. 3™ serie, Zoologie. Tome 4 me, pp. 197- 
248, pis. 10-13, 8vo Paris, 184S- 



i88o.] Development oj Ampliioxus lanccolatas. 75 

much in shape and appearance. The last pair of nerves which arise 
at some distance from the end of the chorda, are directed back- 
wards and perform the same offices for the posterior end of the 
notochord and the tail, that the first pair do for the opposite 
extremity, but the nerves themselves are not so large, being 
slightly larger than the ordinary body nerves, and they do not 
divide into nearly as many branches. 

Muscular System. — The muscular system may be considered as 
made up of two sets of body muscles ; two sets of transverse 
abdominal muscles ; few or many longitudinal fibres in and along 
the abdominal walls ; mouth muscles; pharyngeal ring muscles, 
and sphincters for the mouth, branchiopore and perhaps for the 
ring or neck of the pharynx. 

The body muscles are disposed as in ordinary fishes, one set 
upon either side and each set is composed of a series of regular, 
overlapping muscle plates, which extend from near the anterior 
extremity of the chorda dorsalis to within a short distance of its 
posterior termination. Along the entire length of their dorsal half, 
the two sets are either united or very closely approximated, and 
enclose the greater portion of the entire length of the chorda and 
of the notochord, but leave the extremities of both entirely bare 
of muscular covering (Fig. 1, PL 1). These muscles are also 
united along the ventral edge of the tail portion, but for the ante- 
quite widely separated, spreading outward and downward from 
the notochord to form the upper portion of the parietes of 
the abdomen. The general outline of these combined plates, 
when seen from the side, is that of a long, slender spindle, 
gradually tapering from the center to a sharply pointed termi- 
nation at either end. Each plate is composed of longitudinal, 
striped, muscular fibres, and is four-sided in outline, but with 
the greater diameter changing in direction according to the 
position of the individual plate along the side of the body. 
Those plates which are near either end are nearly rhomboidal in 
outline, long and narrow, and with the longer points coincident in 
direction with the notochord. Nearer the center of the body the 
plates are almost square, the diameters being nearly equal ; 
while along the middle third, where they become once more 
rhomboidal, or nearly so, the longer diameter is at right angles to 
the notochord, with the longer portion of each plate running 
d own into the abdominal walls. On account of the overlapping 
of each plate by the one immediately posterior to it, this four- 



y6 Observations upon the Habits, S/ni, titre and [February, 

sidedness can be seen only in the last plate, which is entirely 
uncovered. These muscles give to the body whatsoever of color 
it may possess, and probably also its metallic iridescence, although 
this latter feature may be due to the striae and fibres which 
exist in the integument. These muscles, from their very great 
extent as compared with the entire body, also give Amphioxus 
its remarkable power and activity in the sand and water, and from 
their similarity of arrangement at either extremity, enable, or 
rather compel it to move with that beautiful, elastic, line-of-beauty 
motion which is such an interesting feature of its progress. The 
transverse muscles lie in the walls of the abdomen and extend 
from the ventral edges of the muscle plates of either side to meet 
and unite in a raphe upon the median ventral line of the branchial 
sack. These muscles are nearly transparent in structure, and by 
their action serve to close the sack walls upon or towards the 
pharynx, as in the expulsion of water from the branchium by the 
branchiopore, and as is seen in all hardened or preserved speci- 
■■ . -i'i - i ■■ - ' ■ ■ . ■■ ■ ,. ■ , i' t .: - * ■ 

chiefly in the lower and posterior portion of the abdomen, proba- 
bly assist in the contraction of the abdominal walls, and also 
serve to shorten the sack and open the branchiopore. The mouth 
muscles, arranged in the walls of the buccal cavity and attached 
to the mouth ring and its appendages, serve to open the mouth, 
and by this operation unclose the overlapping oral tentacles. It 
has been said that besides these general muscles there are .special 
muscles which serve to move each individual tentacle separate 
from the entire circlet. I have never seen any evidence of 
any such muscles, and never, in a single instance any indi- 
vidual motion of the tentacles, and if such muscles exist their 
action must be very feeble or entirely nugatory. The muscles of 
the pharyngeal ring are situated in the posterior portion of the 
buccal cavity and attached to the borders of the ring so as to 
bring the tentacles of these parts forward across the mouth of 
the pharynx. The sphincter muscles surround their respective 
orifices and serve, as in-the case of all sphincters, to approximate 
the edges of these different apertures. There may be a rudi- 
mentary sphincter to the aims, but neither in the young nor the 
adult have I ever observed what may be strictly called a closure 
of this orifice. 

Rcprotiuctivc ; ::<!>is. — These organs consist of a number of 
roundish or oval bodies formed in mbrane of the 

walls of the branchium and attached to the ventral edges of the 



1 88a] Development of Amphioxns lanceolatits. 77 

muscle plates in a single row, along either side of the animal. Each 
body consists of a case or capsule enclosing a central solid portion 
or matrix, within which are developed the generative products, and 
each case is placed with the center of its upper border in juxta- 
position to the line of overlapping or junction of two of the mus- 
cle plates (Fig. 6 a, PI. 11). Ordinarily these cases are small and 
inconspicuous, and lie entirely below the outline of the body 
muscles, but in the female, towards the breeding season, the ova 
increase so much in size that the cases become large and notice- 
able, closely pressed together, and extend for about a quarter or 
third of their diameter above the edge of the muscles to which 
they are attached, thus occupying a goodly share of the sides of 
the branchium. In the female which was in my possession there 
were twenty-six of these cases upon each side, extending from a 
little in front of the middle of the pharynx back to very near the 
branchiopore. In the males there were respectively twenty-three 
and twenty-five pairs of cases so that it is probable tha* there is 
no great difference in the number of pairs of cases in the two sexes. 
These generative organs are without outlets, the germinal products 
escaping from them, when fully ripe, by the dehiscence or burst- 
ing of the walls of the capsule and the lining membrane of the cav- 
ity, and thus get into the branchium from whence they pass into the 
surrounding water, the spermatozoa to come in contact with and 
impregnate the ova, and the ova to develop into young animals. 
This escape from the body is probably effected during the 

strong passing through the branchium. The exact method by 
which the ova become impregnated is not known, but it may be 
supposed that the spermatozoa, after passing from the male, move 
about in the water until swallowed by a feeding female, when they 
pass into the branchium with the greater quantity of the water, 
and so get to the cases containing the ova, penetrate the capsules, 
or more likely adhere to the exterior until the ova are extruded, 
and then effect the work of impregnation. Any ova which were 
in the branchium at the time of the entrance of the spermatozoa, 
and which had been recently separated from the cases, would of 
course be very quickly fastened upon and impregnated. 1 Each 
ov ary, if a single case may be considered to represent an ovary, 
contains from twenty-five to thirty ova, and each ovum is enclosed 



78 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

in a separate membrane or cell, any one of which may open and 
discharge its contents without affecting the rest of the case. 
Under the microscope these cases appear like small bags of mar- 
bles or bunches of grapes, except that most of the ova show a 
lighter, roundish spot near the center, which represents a nucleus, 
the nucleolus not being visible (Fig. 4, PI. 11). After escaping 
from the cases and becoming free in the branchium, the ova in all 
probability, pass out of the body, by way of the branchiopore, in 
the water which is being constantly expelled from this orifice 
during the process of feeding. Up to 1873 this was considered, by 
careful observers to be the only method by which the ova could 
possibly escape into the surrounding medium, and Quatrefages says 
that he saw them, under the microscope, pass from this aperture. 
But Kowalevsky, in his paper upon the development of Amphi- 
oxus, 1 says that he saw the eggs issue from the inouth of the 
female in bunches of fifteen or twenty, and hence concludes that 
they are normally extruded from this opening. This abnormal 
proceeding on the part of Amphioxus has been questioned by 
Wm. Miiller 2 on the grounds that the branchial slits are too narrow 
to admit of the passage of the ova in this direction, and Prof. 
Huxley seems to be of the opinion 3 that if this proceeding took 
place as described by Kowalevsky, that it was accidental, and due 
to some of the ova in passing out by the branchiopore getting 
caught in the openings of the lateral folds, being carried along 
the hollows of these folds and discharged at their anterior open- 
ings into the mouth cavity and thence out of the body. But this 
would not account for their issuing in bunches of fifteen or 
twenty, and moreover, as there are no such openings to the meta- 
pleura (ante p. 6), the ova could not have passed in this direc- 
tion. Prof. Ray Lankester 4 sides with Kowalevsky, and says that 
in all probability the ova do pass from the mouth, but if not by 
the branchial slits, then by certain openings which exist, one upon 
either side, and connect the branchium with the buccal cavity. 
This connection has not been noticed by previous observers, 
although Prof. Lankester thinks that these' openings are the ones 

lEntwicklungsgcsrhichtc ck-s Awfttioxit.: hnucolatus. Von Dr. A. Kowalevsky, 

4, p. 1. St. Petersburg, 1867. 

p. 94- 1875. 

'Classification of the Animal Kingdom. Prof. T. H. Huxley. Quar. Jour. 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxns lanccolatus. 79 

figured by Joh. Muller 5 and considered by him to be the anterior 
openings of the meta-pleura. In the case of the female which 
was in my possession, the ova were extruded very gradually and- 
for the most part one by one, so that here and there along the 
row of cases could be seen, one with a single ovum gone, others, 
nearer the ends, half empty, and still others, near the middle, 
with their full quota. During this period, which extended over 
the entire time the animal remained alive, I was not fortunate 
enough to see any ova leave the body, but from the size of the 
branchial slits, the position of the generative bodies, and the 
actions of the cilia, currents and abdominal walls, which I studied 
with considerable care, I arrived at the conclusion, which is in 
accordance with the opinions of Win. Muller, Quatrefages, &c, 
that, the ova all passed from the body by the branchiopore, and 
that while not absolutely impossible, it would be an exceedingly 
exceptional proceeding if any should pass out by way of the 
mouth. I found that seven ova placed side by side extended 
over a space just equal in length to the breadth of five branchial 
slits with their enclosing arches, and as the bars of the arches are 
quiie as broad as the slits, the ova in passing out in this direction 
would be obliged to pass in opposition to the powerful action of 
the branchial cilia and inflowing water, through openings which 
at most would be only seven-elevenths as broad as the diameter 
of a single ovum, which would be an exceedingly difficult per- 
formance. If the openings mentioned by Prof. Lankester exist, 
and are no broader than the breadth of the branchial slits, there 
would be the same difficulty in passing through them as in 
forcing a way through the slits, besides having to traverse nearly 
half the length of the pharynx against the current of water and 
the pressure of the abdominal walls. If these openings are 
larger than the openings of the slits, it would hardly seem possi- 
ble that they could have remained undetected until this late 
date, but even in this case the passage of ova through them 
could hardly be more than an occasional and chance occurrence, 
since the same obstacles exist to the passage of the ova forward 
to these openings as in the case of the smaller ones, and are even 
increased by the liability of currents of water setting through 
them into the branchium and thus assisting in expelling the ova 






8o Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

by the branchiopore. Thus in any case there would be great 
difficulty for the ova to get into the mouth cavity, and when once 
' in they would be fully as liable to be drawn down through the 
pharynx into the stomach as to be expelled from the body. But 
it seems to me that it is not necessary to suppose any such diffi- 
cult and abnormal passage, as it appears possible to harmonize, in 
a natural manner, the opposing views of Kowalevsky with those 
of Quatrefages and Wm. Miiller, for apparently the ova may pro- 
ceed from the mouth, while actually they make their exit from the 
branchiopore. When we consider the position of Amphioxus dur- 
ing feeding time, that is, when it comes to the surface of the sand, 
we find that it has formed for itself a sort of sand tube in which it 
lies, belly upwards, with its mouth orifice, or a small portion of its 
body exposed to view, as it was when Kowalevsky saw the ova 
issue. Now at every contraction of the abdominal walls there will 
be left a space between the body and sand, extending from the bran- 
chiopore to the mouth, or near it, through which the water ex- 
pelled from the branchium may pass to and mingle with the water 
above the sand. And if at this time the ova are extruded from 
the pore along with the water, they will naturally rise to the sur- 
face of the sand, pass along by the mouth tentacles, appearing to 
any but the most careful observation to come from bettveen them, 
and so into the medium where they float about until transformed 
into young Amphioxi. If this is the true method of procedure, 
as it is the most simple and natural, it will account, as no other 
method will, for the little bunches of fifteen or twenty which 
Kowalevsky saw emerge into the water. For in passing from the 
pore out against the sand it would be very easy for some of the 
ova to become lodged against the sides of the tube until a num- 
ber of them accumulating together would form an obstacle of 
sufficient importance to be forced out by the outflowing water, 
and sent along by the tentacles, when they would be seen rising 
in the water as if just escaped from the mouth cavity. 

The Urinary System. — The earlier anatomists who examined 
Amphioxus were unable to discover any organ, or series of organs, 
which could be considered as acting as specialized excretory ves- 
sels for the urinary products, and for quite a time it was a matter 
of considerable speculation as to the method by which these pro- 
ducts, if any were formed, were eliminated from the body. Very 
soon, however, certain isolated, ductless, glandular patches were 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus lanccolatas. 3i 

discovered to exist upon the floor of the posterior portion of the 
branchium near the branchiopore, and as no other function could 
be thought of as being performed by them, and as there were, 
apparently, no other organs which might subserve the purposes of 
excretion, it was supposed that these patches acted in this 
capacity, and after eliminating the urinary products cast them 
into the branchium to be extruded from the body through the 
branchiopore with the water which passed from this orifice. 

This opinion, which might be considered as very plausible, 
since the patches were associated in position with the posterior 
generative bodies, was very generally held until quite recently, 
but in the paper by Prof. Lankester, already referred to, he 
announces the discovery of certain canals which he considers as 
representing, rather than these patches, the true urinary ducts of 
Amphioxus. These vessels, one upon either side, are in the form 
of long tubular ridges, formed along the roof of the pleuro- 
peritoneal portion of the branchium as outgrowths from the meso- 
derm of the body walls. They are composed of pigmented cells 
and their posterior extremities are open and communicate with 
the branchium near the branchiopore, but their anterior extremi- 
ties, which are in the neighborhood of the sides of the pharynx, 
are probably closed. These canals are thus apparently homolo- 
gous with the earlier stages at least of the ducts of the uriniferous 
tubules of other vertebrates, and. unless further investigation 
shows them to appertain unmistakably to some other system they 
will undoubtedly henceforth be considered as representing, as 
Prof. Lankester suggests, the urinary system of this animal. 

The Blood Vessels. — The general arrangement of the vessels of 
the blood system in Amphioxus is very similar to that found in 
the young of all osseous fishes, but in the minutiae of the plan 
there are quite important modifications, which, although not 
making a complicated system, yet render it very different from 
any other known among vertebrates. The main blood vessel, or 
vein, extends from the anus along the ventral aspect of the intes- 
tine to the base of the saccular liver, thence around the entire 
ength of this organ upon both ventral and dorsal edges, to con- 
tinue along the ventral aspect of the oesophagus and pharynx to 
a Point just beneath the first branchial cleft where it expands or 
m erges into a bulbous organ, the heart. This canal is pulsatile, 
an d has been given different names according to the section of 



82 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

the body through which it passes, but it is undoubtedly to be 
considered as a single vessel, since it is of nearly uniform calibre 
throughout its course, and the rythmical contractions, which are. 
a very marked feature and readily seen, especially in the young. 
pass from behind forwards, at somewhat lengthy intervals, along 
its entire length. Up to quite recently this long tubular vena 
cava was considered to be the sole pulsatile organ of Amphioxus, 
and as a " tubular heart," which was the term applied to it, was 
an anomaly among vertebrates, it was thought fit to designate the 
" thin " from the " thick " hearted vertebrata, and thus separate 
Amphioxus from the rest of the family by instituting for its sole 
reception the class Leptocardia. But in 1876 Langerhans 
announced 1 the discovery of the organ, which is described above, 
as being situated at the anterior extremity of the vena cava, and 
which he considers as representing the heart. If this is the case, 
and Amphioxus does indeed possess a thick-walled pulsatile cavity, 
the above classification may have to be revised, but even then the 
pulsatile character of the vena cava, together with the other pecu- 
liarities in the organization of Amphioxus, may be considered of 
sufficient importance to make it the unique representative of a 
distinct class. From each side of the pharyngeal portion of the 
vena cava a series of vessels are given off, which correspond in 
number and position to the main bars of the branchial arches, 
and through which these vessels pass to the dorsal edge of the 
pharynx, where they unite into two aortae, which run back with- 
out any intercommunication, one upon either side of the median 
line, to the oesophagus, where they unite into a single tube, which 
proceeds as a distributing vessel to the end of the body. Each 
series of these branchial or blood-renovating vessels forms its 
own aorta, and each individual vessel has, at its base or origin, a 
small dilatation or bulb-like enlargement to which the name of 
"branchial heart " has been given. These "hearts" lie in the 
alternating triangular spaces between the curved bases of the 
cartilaginous arches, a, Fig. 4, PI. 1, and probably act as elastic 
reservoirs to render the flow of blood steady and continuous 
through the branchiae. The main heart, into which a certain, 
perhaps a large proportion of blood from the vena cava passes, 
gives off three vessels, two small ones from its anterior border, 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus lanceolotus. 83 

and a large one from its left side. The anterior vessels proceed 
to and supply the walls of the buccal cavity and the tentacles, 
-and the left branch, which forms the ductus Botalli, or aortic 
arc, passes across the pharynx between the pharyngeal ring 
and the anterior branchial clefts, to unite with the left aorta, 
formed by the union of the left branchial vessels, and by this 
route sends its blood into the main arterial channel. 

The blood of Amphioxus is colorless, containing only white 
nucleated corpuscles, 1 and very few of these. The manner, how- 
ever, of its distribution from the aorta and branches of the heart 
to the different parts of the body and its return to the vena cava 
and heart is not at present known. It may be that the passage 
is effected by means of capillary vessels which are so minute that 
they have not as yet been made out, or it may be, and which is 
much more probable, that this fluid passes through the inter- 
spaces between the various tissues, or in other words, that the 
large blood vessels terminate as blood sinuses. 

Development. — For those changes which take place in the em- 
bryo of Amphioxus previous to the formation of the side folds, and 
for most of my information in regard to the growth of these folds, 
I am chiefly indebted to the investigations of Kowalevsky 2 who 
has shown that shortly after the impregnated ovum leaves the 
branchium of the female and passes into the surrounding water, 
the granular vitellus, which nearly fills the rather delicate vitel- 
line membrane, undergoes complete segmentation and gradually 
builds up a thin-walled, nearly spherical morula, which soon, 
under the energetic action of the numerous external vibratile 
cilia, each cell of the wall being furnished with one or more 
of these little lashes, begins rolling over and over, quite slowly, 
within the enclosing membrane, agreeing in this respect with 
what is seen in the ova of certain other vertebrates and many of 
the invertebrata. After the commencement of these rotary 
movements, or it may be before they begin, the morula be- 
comes transformed, by the introversion of one side and the sub- 
sequent near approximation of the edges of the cup thus pro- 
duced, into a gastrula, and the gastrula, by the elongation of its 

1 Examination of the corpuscles of the l.lool of Amphioxus Ian flatus. I'n.f. T. 
H. Huxley. Rep ort „f i;,' t . A ,... „, s c i e „cc. Lm^.n, 1S47. Report of sections. 



84 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

sides in the direction of the axis which passes through the gas- 
trula mouth, or blastopore, changes into a slender, compressed, 
double-walled, planula-like body, ciliated within and without, and 
with the two walls, or exoderm and endoderm layers, which sur- 
round the rather large central cavity of invagination, lying close 
together one within the other, but separated by a narrow space 
which represents the remains of the original segmentation cavity 
of the morula. By the time the embryo is well established in 
its planula form, the blastopore, which marks the posterior 
extremity of the body, closes up entirely, or at least it is highly 
probable that it does, and the young Amphioxus escapes from 
its shell and becomes a free swimming inhabitant of the water. 
The cells of the exoderm and endoderm, along one edge of the 
embryo, now become longer and larger, entirely obliterating in 
their growth the segmentation cavity in this part of the body, 
and form between them, throughout the length of the animal, a 
strip of mesoderm in the center of which arises the notochord 
and from the sides of which originate the muscle plates of the 
body muscles. As the mesoderm thickens, two longitudinal 
ridges grow up from the exoderm and, arching over, unite upon 
the median line into a dorsal tube which runs parallel with and 
close above the notochord. Within this tube the central portion 
of the nervous system is formed. This arises as a second tube 
lining the walls of the first, and originates from the differentia- 
tion of the exoderm cells of the latter. During its formation the 
ends of the dorsal canal have been gradually closing up, one of 
them, the posterior, completely, and the other, the anterior, all 
except a narrow outlet which persists until a somewhat later 
stage of development. 

Meanwhile the whole body lengthens ; the exoderm of the 
ends stretches away from the endoderm into thin blade-like 
points ; the central cavity, limited by the transformation of the 
dorsum to the lower half of the body, becomes long and tube- 
like posteriorly, and quite broad throughout its anterior third ; a 
welt or pear-shaped body, with the narrow end pointing down- 
wards, forms across the anterior end of this broad pharyngeal 
portion of the central cavity, and the external cilia, which here- 
tofore have been the sole motive power, supplanted in their func- 
tions by the muscular fibres of the mesoderm, disappear, except 
upon a small depressed pit-like bit of surface situated upon the 



1 88a] Development of Amphioxiis lanccolatus. 85 

left side of the anterior end, a short distance back from the 
extreme point of the body. The middle part of the tubular por- 
tion of the central cavity now enlarges into a small oblong 
stomach, with obliquely-placed cilia along its walls, and openings, 
formed by ingrowths of cells from the exoderm, appear upon the 
left side of the body, one at either cud, placing the central cavity 
in communication with the exterior. The posterior of these 
openings is formed at the very extremity of the cavity, at the 
base of the exodermic tail expansion, and at or near the point of 
closure of the blastopore, and it may be that it is rather a reopen- 
ing of the old gastrula mouth than a new formation, although 
the latter seems to be the opinion at present. 1 It is small, slightly 
dilatable, and becomes the anal aperture of the intestine. The 
anterior opening penetrates the body wall along the anterior half 
of the pharyngeal portion of the cavity and becomes the mouth 
orifice. It is at first a short longitudinal slit, but soon broadens 
into an oval aperture of considerable size, with long, slender, 
alternating, teeth-like processes extending out from the edges 
towards the center as guards to the entrance, and a thickening of 
the body wall takes place just below it, forming a prominent 
ridge-like border extending from near the median line below the 
cartilaginous, pear-shaped welt, backwards and upwards to very 
nearly the level of the notochord. Along the inner, lower edge 
of this mouth-ridge there are generally two or three slender 
pointed processes which lie close to the body and point towards 
the right side. The central cavity is thus at once transformed 
mto a digestive tract, the food particles being drawn in at the 
mouth by the action of the internal cilia, passed on to the 
stomach, where they are twisted and ground up for the nutrition 
°f the animal, and the refuse material sent onward to the anus 
and so out of the body. 

A third opening now makes its appearance, piercing the body 

upon the median ventral line just below the mouth orifice. 

somewhat larger than the anal opening, longer than broad, 
with the longer diameter transverse to the length of the body, 
ailf l forma the first of a series of ten or eleven similar pharyngeal 
clefts which open along the under side of the pharynx at regular 
distances back to very near the middle of the body. Coincident 
with the formation of this first pharyngeal cleft, two delicate 

J E "; rl >' S ' a ^ m 'lie development of Vertebrate-,. F. M. Halfm.r. Miu.. Jour. 



It Is , 



86 Observations upon the Habits Structure and [February, 

longitudinal folds arise from the exoderm along either side of the 
entire length of the upper portion of the central cavity, and grow- 
outward and downward toward the ventral aspect of the body. 
They soon attain a level with the lower edge of the intestine, 
which, as already mentioned, is much narrower than the pharyn- 
geal section, and those portions of the folds which lie along the 
intestine closely embrace it as a sort of tubular outer coating, and 
unite along their edges into a broad median ridge which extends 
from the anus, where it merges into the exodermic tail expansion, 
to a point just in front of the stomachic dilatation. This ridge 
forms the ventral extension of the continuous ventro-dorsal 

The anterior portions of the folds now increase in breadth, 
leaving quite a space, the rudiments of the branchium, be- 
tween their edges and the alimentary tract, and gradually unite 
but with a smooth, unridged surface, along the median line for- 
ward toward their anterior extremities. In this union an opening 
is left between the edges of the folds just at the point where they 
leave the anterior edge of the coalesced ventral ridge ; this open- 
ing, which forms a means of communication between the cavity 
enclosed by the folds and the exterior, represents the abdominal 
pore, or branchiopore. It will thus be seen that the abdominal 
portion of the animal presents two widely different sections ; the 
one, posterior, with firm walls, closely surrounding the intestine 
and stomach, and with a very restricted cavity enclosed between 
the body walls and this portion of the digestive apparatus ; and 
the other, anterior, with thin dilatable walls, which are at some 
distance from the alimentary tract and which enclose quite an 
extensive cavity or space, which communicates directly with the 
exterior and with the cavity of the posterior section. It may be 
that these two sections are somewhat more complicated in their 
formation than I have indicated above, that while the posterior 
portion is fashioned as already mentioned, the walls of the ante- 
rior cavity are formed by the outgrowth of new folds from the 
inner edges of the old ones ; that is, that after the coalescence of 
the posterior portions of the first folds around the intestine, these 
folds grow no further, but a new set originate from the inner 
anterior borders of the first, and by the extension and subsequent 
union of these more delicate lamina:, the walls of the anterior 
cavity are formed. The peculiar pit-like character of the bran- 



1 88a] Development of Amphioxus lanccolatus. 87 

chioporic depression would seem to indicate some such develop- 
ment, and in this case the lateral abdominal folds, the metapleura 
of the adult, would represent the external edges of the first pair 
of reduplications. This point will, however, be rather difficult to 
ascertain, and I am obliged to say that in none of my young 
specimens did I see any direct evidence of any such secondary 
growths, the development appearing to be as first described, so 
that I shall continue to consider the cavities as formed only of 
two folds. In whichever manner, however, they are formed, the 
one slender and of little account, being barely discernible, the 
other large and of great importance in the animal's economy, 
they are both lined, from the nature of their formation, with a 
continuous layer of exoderm, that upon the external walls of the 
cavities being derived by cell multiplication directly from that 
which covers the inner walls. At this period the right fold extends 
forward as far as the edge of the cartilaginous welt, where it 
merges into the exoderm, the left, as yet, only to and uniting 
with the edge of the mouth ridge, both being perfectly free 
from the sides or lower edge of the pharynx, and by the time 
they have united along their ventral edges to a short distance in 
front of the branchiopore, two or three additional pharyngeal ' 
clefts have formed along the median line of the pharynx, and the 
animal now appears much as shown in Fig. 7, PI. 11, which repre- 
sents the youngest of the specimens which came into my posses- 
sion.- Here can be seen the long notochord with the slender, 
tubular, spinal axis above it; the ciliated pit just in front of the 
pear-shaped welt; the side mouth with its teeth or tentacles; the 
cilia lining the alimentary tract ; the long oesophagus, the dilata- 
tion for the stomach and the asymetrical anus forced to one side by 
the outgrowth of the exoderm of the tail and the median ridge 
of the ventral folds ; the depression indicating the position of the 
branchiopore ; the three pharyngeal clefts piercing the pharynx 
beneath the mouth aperture, and the long tubular heart, formed 
at about this period, between the endoderm and exoderm of the 
ventral edge of the alimentary tract. The shape of the animal is 
quite characteristic, very much compressed from side to side and 
Pointed at either extremity, but the posterior end is not often 
knobbed, as shown in the plate, having generally the shape shown 
in Fi & 5, PL 1. The full number of clefts now soon appear along 
the lower edge of the pharynx between the open cd^s of the side 



;ns througl 




ng backwa 


rd 


hrough its 




shaped ring 


of 



88 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

folds, and, about the time of the formation of the last cleft, the 
mouth aperture begins to change its position, moving forward very 
slowly toward the cartilaginous welt and the ciliated pit. Accom- 
panying this forward movement of the mouth the anterior pharyn 
geal clefts become pushed over toward the right side of th( 
pharynx, and to a slight extent under the right fold ; the posterio 
part of the ciliated pit grows backward, burrowing into the tissue 
toward the cartilaginous welt; and the cartilaginous welt broad- 
s upper portion, the upper posterior limb grow- 
vards the mouth, and a slit or opening forms 
x so as to transform it into an irregular pear 
rtilage placed obliquely across the anterior por 
tion of the central cavity. Fig. 5, PI. 11, represents a diagram- 
matic cross-section of the body at this stage of growth. The 
section is made transversely through the mouth and one of the 
pharyngeal clefts, as at a, Fig. 7, PL 11. The mouth opening, 
with its teeth-like processes, is seen upon the right side; the 
mouth welt with its processes below it ; the pharyngeal cleft 
pushed just to the left of the median ventral line ; and still fur- 
ther to the left a slight indication of the anterior portion of the 
' right body fold. The mouth and pharyngeal apertures open 
directly into the digestive tract. 

The forward movement of the mouth, and the backward move- 
ment of the ciliated pit, continue until the anterior edge of the 
mouth aperture is close to the posterior limb of the cartilaginous 
ring, and the posterior portion of the ciliated pit has burrowed 
back to the opening in the ring, when a split takes place in the 
body wali extending from the mouth opening forward over the 
the edge of the cartilaginous welt and through into the ciliated 
pit, Fig. 2, PL 11, in which only the edge of the ciliated pit is in- 
dicated, the central, deeper portion being back towards the cen- 
tral dotted lines of the figure. This split now deepens or extends 
to the center of the pit, forming a passage-way into the digestive 
tract through the cartilaginous ring; the mouth aperture and split 
in the body wall gradually close ; the bottom of the ciliated pit 
becomes attached to the edge of the cartilaginous ring, which is 
already attached to the walls of the anterior extremity of the 
pharynx, and the food passes into the digestive tract from this 
time forward by way of the newly opened aperture in the bottom 
of the ciliated pit. This is a marked advance in development, 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus lanceolatus. 89 

and it is hardly more than accomplished, and perhaps in many 
instances not completed, before the body folds close up entirely 
over the pharyngeal clefts, the left body-fold advancing towards 
the cartilaginous ring coincident with the advance and final 
disappearance of the pharyngeal mouth aperture and mouth welt; 
the first two or three pharyngeal clefts become pushed almost 
entirely over upon the right side of the pharynx; the ciliated mouth 
cavity enlarges anteriorly, the dorsal and posterior edges growing 
downward and forward, and small fleshy prolongations appear 
upon the posterior edge ; and two or three small oval openings 
appear piercing the left side of the pharynx at points intermediate 
to the already formed pharyngeal openings, in a line just posterior 
to the cartilaginous ring and beneath the level of the notochord. 
Fig. 1, PL 11, shows the appearance of the anterior portion of the 
animal at this time, with mouth tentacles beginning to show along 
the posterior edge of the cavity, and the oblong openings along 
the left side of the pharynx. 

These openings in the pharynx represent the rudiments of the 
left branchial fissures or arches. They increase in size until the first 
one is about one-half the width of the pharynx, when a small 
protuberance forms in the center of the upper or dorsal border, 
and grows downward towards the ventral edge, finally merging 
with it and dividing the opening into two more or less elongated 
apertures, the branchial slits or clefts. Before this division is 
effected however, each of the other openings has given rise to a . 
central prolongation, which grows downward to finally unite with 
the lower border, as in the first case, and two or three new open- 
ings have pierced the pharynx, one between the first arch and 
the cartilaginous ring, and the other in a line with, and posterior 
to, those first formed in the pharyngeal wall. 

Of these new arches, the first one never becomes divided by a 
central bar, but each of the others is divided in turn into two 
sections, as a new opening makes its appearance in the pharyngeal 
walls. As there appears to be no limit to this formation of arches, 
and of their division into clefts, in the growth of the individual, 
there is always to be seen in either young or adult, a posterior 
round or oval aperture and just anterior to it one or more open- 
,n gs partially segmented by central prolongations, although some- 
times the last aperture indicates the central division, by a curva- 
ture of the dorsal edge, before the new opening is formed. After 



go Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

the segmentation of the arches, each bar becomes itself divided, 
in time, into two halves, or at least marked, as seen in the adult, 
by a distinct central line of division, Fig. 4, PL 1. In all of the 
arches a circlet of long cilia appear around the inner edge as 
soon as the aperture is formed, and, with the growth of the cen- 
tral bars, the circlet gradually extends so as in the adult to nearly 
if not quite curtain each cleft, and when in motion form such 
admirable strainers for these openings, as has been indicated when 
speaking of the habits of these animals. The movement of the 
cilia is wave-like and continuous around the edge of the slit, with 
the stress or emphasis of the motion always in the same direction. 
In the meantime, while the left branchial arches have been en- 
larging and dividing, the first three or four pharyngeal openings 
have attained a counterbalancing position upon the right side, and 
have, similar to those of the left side, become divided into branchial 
slits by the downward growth of central bars, and the remaining 
pharyngeal openings have entirely disappeared, so that at this 
period both sides are pierced by ten to twelve similar alternating 
clefts, the first one of the right side being formed like the corres- 
ponding one of the left side, after one or two of the old apertures 
have become divided into clefts, although it is possible that in 
some instances this first slit may be the first pharyngeal opening, 
which has remained suriall and undivided, merely increasing 
slightly in length in the direction of the breadth of the pharynx, 
with the general increase in length of the other clefts. The sub- 
sequent arches of the right side are of similar formation to those of 
the left, that is, they are new openings, which are formed through 
the wall of the pharynx, and in all probability none of them have 
any relation to the five or six pharyngeal openings which closed 
up during the changes of the first three or four. Accompanying 
these modificatiens which take place in the arches, there is an en- 
largement of the ventral portion of the center of the alimentary 
tract, and a forward movement of the stomach, so that this organ 
comes finally to lie within the enlarged anterior cavity of the 
abdomen, rather than within that portion closely embraced by the 

The enlargement of the alimentary tract is, at first, in the form 
of a mere swelling-out of one side, accompanied by a pigmen- 
tation of the cells of the walls of this section of the tract, but, in 
a short time a diverticulum, with greenish walls is formed, which 



1 8 So.] Development of Amphioxus lanccolatus. 91 

grows forward (Fig. 3, PI. 11), gradually pushes its way along the 
side of the pharynx (Fig. 3, PI. 1), and becomes the asymetrical 
liver of the adult. 

As the liver passes forward around and along one side of the 
pharynx, that portion of the ventral tubular vessel of the blood 
system which passed beneath it becomes stretched out into a 
peripheral ventral and dorsal vessel for this organ, so that there 
is, so far as can be made out, no connection between the intestinal 
and pharyngeal portions of the ventral vessel, except by way of 
this extension which outlines the liver. In Fig. 5, PI. 1, the fiver 
enlargement is represented at about the time it begins to form, 

A second vessel is also represented, which first appears about 
this time, extending from the cartilaginous base of the pharynx, 
between the branchial arches and the pharyngeal ring, upwards 
and backwards to the ventral aspect of the notochord, where it 
becomes lost to view. This vessel is the aortic arc or ductus Bo- 
talli, and with the exception of this arc and the ventral vessel, 
with its hepatic continuation and the swellings at the bases of the 
branchial arches, no portion of the blood system can be made out 
in the living, young or adult animal. At this period the bran- 
chial arches are seven in number upon either side of the 
pharynx, the third and fourth from the anterior end being largest, 
and are very broad and well defined, with very large spaces between 
their broadly pointed bases, and the stomach is seen just over 
the branchioporic depression, and extends forward into the enlarge- 
ment caused by the swelling-out of the alimentary tract for the 
liver caecum, and in fact this enlargement, and also this section of 
the alimentary tract after the farther growth of the liver, seems to 
form a very important part of the stomach, and the swaying, 
twisting mass of food, with the accompanying oblique arrange- 
ment of the cilia, generally extends from the posterior limits of 
the oesophagus to the. beginning of the intestine. The advanced 
state of the mouth cavity and the tentacles upon the pharyngeal 
nr >g will also be noticed in this figure. From the condition as 
shown in Fig, i, PI. IIp the postcrio-dorsal, or left, and the ven- 
tral, or right edges of the mouth cavity gradually work downward 
and forward until the ventral edge nearly coincides with the ven- 
tral edges of the anterior portion of the body, by which time this 



92 Observations upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

edge has become lip-like and three or four finger-like prolonga- 
tions have formed from the exoderm of the lip. 

At the same time with the forward growth of the left side 
wall, the tentacles of the left side have grown longer, increased in 
number by the addition of one or two prolongations from that 
portion of the wall of the cavity anterior to those tentacles al- 
ready formed, and become strengthened by cartilaginous supports 
formed in the tissue of each tentacle, as tentacular segments, al- 
ready noticed in the adult, of the left branch of a ring which de- 
velops around the edge of the mouth aperture from the base of 
the cartilaginous ring of the pharynx. 

At this period the mouth tentacles have very little share in 
guarding the mouth cavity from the entrance of large or injurious 
particles, this duty being delegated almost entirely to the tenta- 
cles of the pharyngeal ring, which were formed very soon after 
the opening of the passage-way through the bottom of the cilia- 
ted pit into the pharynx. And while these pharyngeal tentacles 
are thus of much greater importance to the young than to the 
adult animal, they are always of service, as has been noticed upon 
a previous page, in ejecting large bodies which may have suc- 
ceeded in passing the network formed by the mouth circlet and 
getting into the mouth cavity. The further development of the 
mouth cavity is comparatively simple; the left side continues its 
downward and forward growth, until it is upon a level with the 
right edge, and the mouth opening becomes a median, ventral 
aperture just posterior to, and guarded by the rather blunt pro- 
boscis of the animal ; the right branch of the mouth ring with its 
segments, forms in and along the edge of the right wall, and the car- 
tilaginous supports grow out into the right tentacles ; the remain- 
ing tentacles, to the number of ten or eleven on either side, mak- 
ing about thirty-one in all, gradually form along the sides, arch- 
ing inward and forward, so that those of one side overlap and 
interlace with those of the other, and the mouth cavity assumes 
its normal adult appearance (Fig. i, PI. i). 

By following carefully the development of the mouth cavity of 
Amphioxus, as I have sketched it in the previous pages, it will 
be seen to be a true, although somewhat irregular, introversion 
or inward growth of the exodermic tissue to meet the endoderm 
of the central canal, and hence is homologous in character with 
the mouth cavity of the higher vertebrates. It has heretofore 



i88o.] Development of Amphioxus lanceolattis. 93 

been generally considered that the mouth cavity of Amphioxus 
was formed by the anterior portions of the side folds overlapping 
and finally enclosing the anterior end of the pharynx, and by this 
method of development making the mouth cavity an anterior 
portion of the cavity surrounding the pharynx. But in none of 
my specimens could any evidences of any such method of forma- 
tion be seen, and there are, moreover, certain facts in connection 
with the formation of the mouth cavity which would seem of 
themselves to corroborate, to a certain extent at least, my view of 
the development. First, the mouth being formed upon the left 
side of the body, has, in the anterior exodermic expansion, a pre- 
viously-formed right wall, and any extension of the right fold 
over this portion of the body would only form a third layer over 
the side and not be of any value in the formation of the cavity, 
or connect it in any manner with the cavity surrounding the 
pharynx. Second, the left fold, in order to form the left side of 
the cavity would have to pass forward over the pharyngeal mouth 
aperture, and in so doing would so affect the inward flow of food 
material that this forward growth could be easily observed, pro- 
vided any such forward growth took place. But the left fold is 
always limited anteriorly, so far as I have observed, by the mouth 
welt, and advances towards the cartilaginous ring only as the 
mouth welt advances towards the edge of the ciliated pit, hence 
my investigations have led me to the conclusion already men- 
tioned, that the mouth cavity is formed by a true introversion of 
the exoderm, and is genetically distinct from the branchial cavity. 
For this reason, combined with the fact that the branchial cavity 
is essentially branchial in its function, and quite different in its 
formation from the atrium of some at least 1 of the Tunicates, 
its walls having more of the nature, in their development, of the 
gill covers or opercula of osseous fishes, 2 and because it does not 

'The Anatomy of Invertebrated Animals. By T. H. Huxley. London, 1S77, 
p. 609. 



upon the Habits, Structure and [February, 

function as a cloacal chamber, although indeed receiving the 
urinary and generative products, I have thought it best to give it 
the name of branchium rather than that of atrium, which is 
applied to the branchio-cloacal chamber of Tunicates. 

The changes which take place in the nervous system while 
these transformations are taking place in the muscular system 
and integument, appertain chiefly to the growth and extension of 
the nerves out into the parts of the body from the chorda spinalis. 
The chorda itself changes very little in the growth of the animal 
from what it was in the embryo ; the principal difference being 
that in the adult the central canal has become almost completely 
filled up, except in the " head," by the thickening of the walls, 
and the pigment spots are perhaps somewhat larger and more 
numerous. The posterior extremity is turned up very slightly 
from a very early period, but it does not exhibit the button-like 
termination until later in life. The anterior end, or "head," 
enlarges somewhat in the growth of the animal, so as to repre- 
sent a very rudimentary brain, and the beak of the " head " and the 
olfactory nerve attain their adult characteristics probably coinci- 
dental ly with the outward extension of the peripheral portion of 
the nervous system, or the general body nerves. 

The farther development of Amphioxus has already been indi- 
cated in the forward growth of the liver, the multiplication and 
elongation of the branchial slits, the outgrowth of the ventral car- 
tilaginous processes, forming a base to the ventral 1 i fin, 
and the extension of the muscle plates down into the body walls. 

With these transformations are associated certain changes in 
external form, particularly in regard to the shape of the two ex- 
tremities and the appearance of the metapleura of the side folds, 
and when these are accomplished, the animal has assumed its 
adult form, as represented in Fig. I, PI. I, and with the develop- 
ment of the generative bodies along the edges of the muscle 
plates, becomes capable of reproducing its kind. 

In conclusion, it may not be unprofitable to summarize, some- 
what hastily, those particular features in which Amphioxus dif- 



i88o.] Development of . \mphioxns lanceolatiis. 95 

fers from other vertebrates. Beginning with the external character- 
istics we find a median ventral fin, which is continuous with a 
long median caudo-dorsal fin, extends for some distance in front 
of the anal aperture, and which extends quite to the anterior ex- 
tremity of the body; an anal aperture placed upon the left side 
of the median line of the body and opening about midway of 
the side ; an abdominal aperture or branchiopore ; a longitudinal 
mouth opening ; a circlet of mouth tentacles ; and a single 
asymmetrical nasal pouch. It is very questionable whether the 
anterior pigment-spot of the spinal cord is of any more value 
than any of the other pigment spots of the nervous system, hence 
Amphioxus may be said to absolutely lack both eyes and ears. 

Internally we find a saccular liver; and an alimentary tract 
lined with vibratile cilia. The notochord, besides lacking any 
anterior cranial expansion, may differ in its structure and mode 
of development from the notochord of higher vertebrates, but 
this question is as yet undecided. The remaining organs repre- 
sent rather embryonic forms of the same organs in higher animals, 
than different features ; thus the spinal cord, with its slight ante- 
rior enlargement seems to represent that stage of the central ner- 
vous system of higher vertebrates just before the cerebral vesicles 
are formed ; and the blood system, if, as Langerhans claims, there 
is a heart, and if the blood is distributed throughout the body 
and returned to the ventral tubular vessel through the spaces in 
the tissues, rather than through capillary vessels, would be, except- 
ing the position of the heart and the pulsatile character of the 
vena cava, simply what is seen in all young vertebrates, or at least 
as seen in the young of osseous fishes, where the course of the 
blood in the smaller channels is continually changing from one 
interspace to another, whenever, from any cause, any one channel 
becomes stopped up, and these changes continue until the capil- 
lary vessels are formed. Amphioxus is thus seen to be a very 
peculiar animal, presenting some resemblance to the Tunicates 
in the ciliated pharynx and pharyngeal tentacles, yet evidently 
more closely affiliated as an embryonic form, with the great 
vertebrate branch of the animal kingdom, than with any of the 
Invertebrata. 



g6 A Sketch of Comparathi Embyrology . [February, 

A SKETCH OF COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY. 

I.— THE HISTORY OF THE GENOBLASTS, AND THE THEORY OF SEX. 

THE series of articles, of which this is the first, is intended to pre- 
sent in a simple and popular manner, the leading results of the 
very numerous researches upon the development of animals, pub- 
lished during the last fifteen years. These researches have com- 
pletely altered the whole science of comparative anatomy and 
animal morphology, by entirely upsetting a large part of Cuvier's 
classification and the idea of types upon which it was based, sub- 
stituting the demonstration of the fundamental identity of plan 
and structure throughout the animal kingdom from the sponges 
to man. The details of the observations are already too many 
for any but the most industrious specialist to become familiar with. 
We have now entered upon the period of generalizations, which 
are already so numerous and important that it is impossible to 
study scientific zoology without some knowledge of them. This 
great progress is still so recent that its results have not been 
transferred to the text-books, nor even gathered together in any 
scientific review. Nevertheless, it is possible to compile an out- 
line which may be accepted as fairly correct. This outline it is 
my present object to trace, with the hope that it may prove at 
once accurate and useful. 

Each branch of the subject will be treated by itself. The illus- 
trations will be taken mainly, if not exclusively, from pen draw- 
ings prepared by myself for a work on Comparative Histology, 
upon which I am engaged. The original source of each figure 
will be given. 

The arrangement of topics will be, first the structure of the egg 
and spermatozoon; second, the phenomena of impregnation; 
third, segmentation and the formation of the germ-layers; fourth, 
the essential features of the embryology of the leading animal 
types, beginning with the simplest and ascending to the most 
complicated and highest. 

The starting point of comparative embryology, as indeed of 
nearly all branches of biology, is the cell, composed of the nucleus 
surrounded by protoplasm. A few years ago the theory was ad- 
vanced that the nucleus was unnecessary, and various observa- 
tions were adduced to show that in a considerable number of 



1 88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 97 

living objects there was nothing but protoplasm. In accordance 
with this view this substance was called the " Physical Basis of 
Life," under which name it has been much paraded before the 
public. By a great many persons protoplasm is conceived and 
described as a " simple mass of jelly." By an easy illogic this 
phrase of the very ignorant becomes a demonstration that life is 
a mere property of matter — but that is no matter to us now. What 
does concern us, is that protoplasm is not a mere simple mass of 
jelly, but is certainly very complicated, perhaps so complicated that 
its constitution is beyond the power of human conception. One 
of the visible indications of the complexity of protoplasm, is, that 
it is not a continuous substance, but interrupted by vacuoles or 
cavities, which vary in size, shape and number. These cavities 
are usually round or oval. The protoplasmatic partitions between 
them form a complicated network. Sometimes the cavities may 
fuse together, by a breaking through of the partitions, in which 
case the network is reduced to a number of connecting threads. 
The cavities are not empty, but filled with various substances, 
sometimes liquid, sometimes solid, and differing in chemical com- 
position, as the protoplasm is from one kind of cell or another. 
For the contents of the vacuoles I propose the name enclosures. 
It will be seen that protoplasm forms only the network which 
surrounds the other substances. This is an important fact, with- 
out knowing which, it is impossible to understand the formation 
of eggs. 

• Let us return to the nucleus. It has been asserted that there are 
numerous animals {Monera, etc.) mostly microscopic, which consist 
solely of protoplasm without any nucleus, and abo in some cases 
that the egg-cell ejects its nucleus, and then it is called a cytode. 
^•ow it has been shown that a very large proportion of these un- 
nucleated protoplasms {Protista) really have a nucleus, and are 
unicellular animals or plants; therefoie it is probable that no pro- 
toplasm can live without a nucleus, that is to say without being 
part of a cell. 1 So also with the &gg; it has become probable that 
it never loses its nucleus. 

The result of these discoveries is to reestablish the full import- 
ance of the cell, as the unit of animal and vegetable organization. 
Recent investigations by Butschli (No. 18) and Engelmann upon 

w hich no nucleus h.is been observed. Futu * ^ lher the ab " 



98 A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. [February, 

the Infusoria have strengthened the movement of return towards 
the earlier doctrine, which had been for a while crowded aside by 
the over-hasty advocacy of the protoplasm theory. Biitschli es- 
pecially has made it extremely probable that all Infusoria are but 
highly specialized and curiously modified unicellular beings. 

It is certainly safe to assume for the present that no life can ex- 
ist outside of cells, and that all the phenomena of development 
must be reduced to terms of cell-life. The first point, therefore, 
to be settled is the relation of the sexual products to the cells 
from which they are derived, and the multiplication of which they 
effect. I shall give an hypothesis of these relations, which I 
have formed, and which is the only one, so far as I am aware, yet 
proposed. Whether this hypothesis will ultimately prove correct 
or not, it is impossible to foresee. As it still appears to me plausi- 
ble, I shall venture to reproduce it here. To explain it, it is 
necessary to premise brief accounts of the structure of the sexual 
products (genoblasts) and their development. We will begin with 
the egg. 

The essential part of every egg is developed from a single cell, 
which undergoes certain modifications, probably nearly the same 
in all animals, thereby acquiring the definite characteristics which 
distinguish it as an egg-cell from an ordinary cell, and from all 
other specialized forms of cells. 

The eggs of different classes and even species of animals are. 
as is well known, extremely unlike in appearance. The dissimi- 
larity refers chiefly to size, and to the nature and number of mem- 
branes or envelopes by which the egg-cell proper is surrounded 
by the parent. Thus in the hen's egg, the yolk alone represents 
the part formed by the egg cell, while the white of the egg and the 
egg-shell are only secondary envelopes, the former serving to 
nourish, the latter to protect the yolk, which is the essential part, 
the true egg. 

Now, it is well known that mere size does not enter into the 
determination of the real affinities of animals and plants. The 
smallness of the rat does not show that it is related to the frog 
rather than to the elephant, and from our present point of view the 
size of eggs is meaningless. The egg-cells are large in all birds 
and reptiles, in the sharks, rays, ganoids and Cephalopoda, small 
in mammals, bony fishes and nearly all invertebrates, intermediate 
in amphibians. 



i88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 99 

The various envelopes which eggs ever have, may be classed 
under four categories : First, a very thin and delicate one, the 
proper membrane of the cell itself, which ought always to be dis- 
tinguished as the vitelline membrane ; second, the ovarian envelope 
which is secreted around the egg-cell by the tissues of the ovary ; 
third, the envelopes secreted by the oviduct, which may form an 
envelope of nutritive matter, or a protective shell, or both, as in 
the hen's egg, of which the nutritive white is secreted by the 
upper part, the calcareous shell by the middle part of the oviduct ; 
fourth, coverings secreted by accessory glands, such as the slime 
in which the eggs of snails are imbedded, or the shells in which 
leeches lay their eggs. By adhering to this classification the 
student will be able to follow with profit the labyrinth of special 
description. To enter into further details would lead aside from 
the object of this article: let it suffice to have pointed out the 
possibility of manifold variations, and to have emphasized the 
fact that the egg-cell is the important and only essential part of 

The egg-cell always arises from a germ-mass, called Keimlager 
in German. The germ-mass is at first composed of cells all 
essentially identical in microscopic appearance. Single isolated 
cells then transform themselves into eggs, while their surrounding 
fellow-cells play the roles of nurses and purveyors. To avoid 
inaccuracy it must be added that in some cases the germ-mass 



vine!, . 



this 



nately become the centers of dis 



separation the differentiation of the 



methods of development some cells enlarge to form the eggs, 
others supply the enlarging and growing cells with nutritive 
material. It is impossible to enter upon this subject further than 
to say that the form and disposition of nutritive cells varies 
extremely in different animals, while the changes in the egg are 
much more uniform, so that it is possible to describe in general 
terms the development of the ovum. 

The modifications which occur in the growing egg-cells are as 
follows : 

1. Change of size: the cell enlarges, it being a rule, no exception 

to which is, I believe, known, that the mature egg-cell is 
much larger than any of the other cells in the body of the 

2. Change of shape: the cell becomes nearly or quite spherical. 



ioo A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. [February, 

3. The nucleus becomes larger, spherical, and assumes an 

eccentric position within the cell, while the meshes of the 
nuclear network are coarse, and few, and for the most part 
radiate from the nucleolus, which is large, distinct, highly 
refringent and placed eccentrically within the nucleus. 

4. The cellular network becomes very distinct, its interspaces are 

filled with ovoid or round, solid enclosures, which are 
usually if not always mainly of an albuminoid character. 
These enclosures form the part which is called the deuto- 
plasm by Edouard von Beneden and others. The deuto- 
plasm causes the egg-cells to be called the yolk, because it 
is the nutritive matter from which the protoplasm of the 
cell grows. The term yolk has no very exact scientific 
meaning, for it is used to designate sometimes the deuto- 
plasm alone, sometimes the whole egg, as when the seg- 
mentation of the yolk is spoken of. 

5. A cell membrane appears, and usually acquires considerable 

thickness, 

A typical mature egg-cell is shown in Fig. 1, which represent 

the ripe ovum of Toxopinitstcs lividtts, the common sea-urchin of 

Europe. The nucleus is proportionately larger than in the eggs 

of many other animals, its contents are fluid except the net-work 

and the nucleolus («), which latter frequently has one or more 

/<- » "~~>>. vacuoles. In some cases there are several 

or many nucleoli, as in osseous fishes, but 

'■""■' - the meaning of this difference is absolutely 

P I s _('-• i unknown. Moreover, this egg is unlike 

that of many animals in that the yolk 

spherules or the deutoplasm granules are 

, — 7 comparatively small, while in some ani- 

^ -^ mals, especially those with larger eggs, the 

sea P urchV.~' N af!c! r o OT I?er J granules are larger. If these variations 
wig. are borne in mind the figure given may be 

I am inclined to think that besides these peculiarities the ripe 
egg-cell shows a distinction between a thin denser peripheral 
layer of protoplasm immediately under the vitelline membrane 
and a central portion, which alone contains deutoplasm, recalling 
the differentiation of the ectosarc and endosarc in the Amoeba. 
This feature has been observed in several cases, and further 
research may demonstrate it to be common to all eggs. 



i88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 101 

The shape of the egg does not necessarily remain spherical, 
but may be altered by external pressure, as when several are laid 
in one capsule (Lumbricus, Nephclis, Planaria, etc.), or when com- 
pressed by an unyielding shell. A very striking instance has 
recently been described by Repiachoff in y^'^^^ 

the Supplement to Vol. xxx of the Zcits- ,, ■•>. 

chrift fur wissenschaftlicke Zoologie. He /,• 
describes the egg of Tendra zostericola (a ^^ , ^ .:.-^0 
European Bryozoon found on eel-grass) as - Fcmof Tendra 

having a fusiform shape, Fig. 2. zoshricola, after Repia- 

One other remarkable modification of the choff - 
egg-cell occurs among spiders, and has not yet been observed in 
other animals. The eggs of some spiders (Fig. 3) contain, 
besides the nucleus, a second body, k, of about the same size as 
the nucleus, solid and resistant, and exhibiting indications of a 
series of concentric laminae; this is probably 
only a specialized form of deutoplasm, similar K^ ' 
to the four large oil globules described by J&t 
Spengel in the eggs of Bondiia viridis. 

When an egg-cell attains maturity, the first 1 
important and striking change that occur 
the translation of the nucleus close to the sur- 
face of the egg, where it disappears. The 
nucleus of the ripe ovum is usually called the 
germinative vesicle, and the phenomenon just fig. 3.— Egg-cell of 
alluded to is still generally termed the disap- ^ •/ ; 1 ^']'hn,V" ,"'nu- 
pearance of the germinal vesicle. The fact has clous ; V'l a m i ii at c 
long been known, but was entirely inexplicable body - 
until the discoveries of the last few years afforded a partial expla- 
nation, by rendering it probable that the disappearance is not real 
but only apparent. The subject is still obscure, because the 
observers are not entirely agreed with one another as to the facts. 
The greatest difficulty arises from the fact that in most cases the 
egg-cell ejects two or three small bodies over the spot where 
the nucleus disappears. These bodies are called polar globules, 
and are known to occur in Coelenterates, Echinoderms, Molluscs, 
various classes of worms, Tunicates, Ganoids and mammals, so 
that their existence in all cases might fairly be assumed, were 
>t not that renewed special search for these bodies in Amphibia, 
b .v O. Hertwig, had failed to discover any trace of them. No 



102 A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. [February, 

satisfactory observations of the polar globules of the eggs of any 
of the Rotifera or Arthropoda have yet been made; but, as the 
interest in this subject is very recent, the globules may yet be 
found in those classes. 

When the polar globules are formed, the following events may 
be assumed probably to occur. Ed. van Beneden's account of 
the development of the polar globules in the rabbit may be espe- 
cially mentioned as exceptional. The history as here given is 
based upon observations made upon a limited number of inverte- 
brates. When the nucleus disappears it is replaced by a spindle- 
shaped body known as the kern-spindcl or Anglice nuclear spindle, 
which is generally regarded as the metamorphosed nucleus. It 
consists (Fig. 4) of a small number of fine, parallel threads, which, 
converging towards either end, run out into two points. The 
fibres are all thickened in the middle at the same level ; these 
thickenings produce the appearance of a distinct plate or disk in 
the middle (Strassburger's Kernplatte). It will be convenient to 
adhere to the term nuclear plate to designate these thickenings. 
The spindle lies perpendicular to the surface of the egg. The 
pointed end of each spindle occupies the center of a clear space, 
^- — — -. from around which radiate fine threads, thus 

. ■? producing a sun-like figure. The whole 
spindle, with the two suns, has been named 
the amphiaster. 

The character of the next series of 
changes is shown in Fig. 5. The spindle 
is partly excluded from the egg, one end 
projecting outwards and enclosed by a dis- 
Fir,. 4 .— Ovarian e gs of tinct mass of protoplasm, constricted around 
" imE- -pn"il Htl - MV -^ the base - The " kernplatte " has divided in 
'iumie atudnn- ihet—'tn two, one-half moved towards either end of 
the ° vary ' the spindle. The spindle next divides and 

the inner moiety retreats into the egg, the outer into the protuber- 
ance, which thus becomes the first polar globule. The part of 
the spindle within the egg, transforms itself into a second spin- 
dle, which develops a second globule like the first. Frequently 
a third globule is also formed. The connection of the globules 
with the yolk lasts some time, and in the case of leeches is not 
dissolved until segmentation begins. These globules take no part 
in the further history of the egg : they disappear — how, is not 



i88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Em 

exactly known. The part of the spindle i 
to the center of the egg and becomes a n 
termed the female pronucleus. 



two parts, first, the egg 




The egg-cell, therefore, divides 
proper with the female pronucleus, sec- 
ond, the polar globules. The egg-cell 
has become not as a whole, but partly, 
a real egg, the ultimate female sexual 
product. Since the use of the term 
egg cannot be restricted, and since 
precision of nomenclature is, in this 
case, particularly desirable, I have pro- 
posed the name thelyblast for the female 
element. 

We pass now to the history of the J™- 5- - E, t Neplel 

, * ' three-quarters <>, an hour after 

male elements, or spermatozoa, con- laying. Formation of the first 
cerning which the observations of nat- P 0,ar s Iobule ' after Hertwig ' 
uralists have been even less satisfactory. The adult spermatozoa 
have, with a few exceptions, an elongated, almost thread-like 
form, Fig. 6, and consist of a shorter and thicker 
portion, the head, a, a short middle piece, b, and a 
filiform tail, d, from which is suspended, in many 
vertebrates, a thin and very transparent undulating 
membrane, c. Innumerable modifications of this 
type occur by variations in the size and shape of 
the head and the length and thickness of the tail 
In a few exceptional cases, as among the nema- 
tode worms, the spermatozoa exhibit absolutely no 
trace of this form, but are apparently constructed 
upon an entirely distinct type. A few species of 
invertebrates have two forms of spermatozoa. 

In a not inconsiderable number of invertebrates, 
we find so-called spermatophores. These are only 
bundles of spermatozoa enclosed in a protective 
covering or shell (Fig. 7). In Cyclops this shell is 
secreted by the efferent duct, around the sper- 
matozoa, just as the shell is secreted around the 
c 2g s by the oviduct. The spermatophores of some 
animals exhibit a very complicated structure, and 1 



104 -A Sketch of Comparative Embryolcgy, [February, 

Like the eggs, or thelyblasts, the spermatozoa are developed out 
of cells, each cell forming not one sexual element, 
as in the case of the egg, but several. Hence sev- 
eral young elements appear within the interior of 
one cell at once; therefore this one cell is called 
tin' spermatocyst} while the young elements which 
are to become spermatozoa, are called spermato- 
blasts, and lie within the mother-cell or the cyst. 
The spermatoblasts appear at first as cell-like, 
4<f. spherical bodies, which may multiply by division 

F t IG -7^— s P^r- within the mother-cell. Their development pro- 
r,,/ quattri- gresses in the ordinary type of spermatozoon by a 
cn^n,mi«nc S radual elongation, the nucleus forming the greater 
or shell; sp, part of the head, and the protoplasm, the tail, as 
spermatozoa. has been described in the Naturalist for July, 
1877 (p. 397). These changes are so striking that they have 
absorbed the attention of investigators ; hence the relation of the 
spermatoblasts to the parent-cell has been far less studied than its 
importance demands. At present, certainly, it is impossible to 
give any general account of the development of the spermatozoa. 
I shall, therefore, confine myself to a resume of Semper's obser- 
vations of the process in the sharks, his being the most complete 
special account of which I know. The principal stages are rep- 
resented in Fig. 8, which are taken from preparations stained 
with hsematoxiline. 

In the earliest stage the spermatic follicle, or ampulla, a, is a 
cavity occupied by the remnants of a cell, which soon disappears. 
This cavity is lined by a layer of cells with large spherical, granular 
nuclei, and enclosed by an outer layer of cells v/ith smaller dark, 
oval nuclei. The inner layer alone is directly concerned in the for- 
mation of the spermatozoa. In each one of the inner cells, which 
are the spermatocysts, the nucleus begins to multiply, as shown 
in b, c, a 7 , e, dividing every time into two parts, one of which 
remains at the inner extremity of the cell and preserves the 
character of the parent nucleus, while the other recedes towards 
the outer end. The parent nucleus then again divides, until finally 
the spermatocyst contains one mother nucleus (nwtterkem), and 
several daughter nuclei, which are easily distinguished by their 

1 The term spermatocyst has been used i 
tion above given accords with the usage 1 



A Sketch of Comparative Embryology, 



105 



spherical shape and finely granular appearance. The daughter 
nuclei multiply by division. While these changes, occur, the 
whole cell or spermatocyst becomes greatly elongated. At the 
completion of this stage, the parent nucleus at the inner end of 
the cell disappears, and a nucleus similar in appearance appears 
at the outer end, f. It is probable, but not demonstrated, that 
the two nuclei are identical, in other words, that the parent nucleus 




Fig. 8. — Development of the 



migrates from one end to the other. The upper nucleus hence- 
forth is passive, remaining behind to degenerate after the sper- 
matozoa have been discharged from the cyst. Each one of the 
daughter nuclei, after subdividing still further so as to become 
very small, g t gathers a distinct mass of protoplasm around itself, 
and becomes a spermatoblast. The further development proceeds 
by alteration of the shape of these bodies: the nucleus elongates, 
becomes S-shaped, h. The elongation advances, the nuclei become 
straight and rod-like, and lie parallel to one another in the upper 
end of the cell, i. If we look at the cells from the outer surface 
of the ampulla, the center of the end of each cell is occupied by a 
cluster of dots corresponding to the bundle of rod-like nuclei 
seen endwise, m. Each long nucleus forms a spermatozoon head, 
which is connected with a thread-like tail. The development is 
completed by the discharge of the bundle of spermatozoa, leaving 
the large nucleus behind. 

The essential feature of this whole history is, that a cell with a 



106 A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. [February, 

single nucleus divides to form a compound body in which there 
is one large element with one kind of nucleus and numerous 
small elements, all with nuclei similar among themselves, but dif- 
ferent from the single larger nucleus. The same thing occurs 
when the egg sensn stricto, or the thelyblast, is developed. In the 
case of the egg, it is the larger element which is preserved as the 
female part ; in the case of the spermatocyst, it is the smaller 
elements which are preserved as the male parts. The two pro- 
cesses are complementary. 

These facts have led to the following hypothesis of the relation 
of cells to the sexual elements. In an ordinary cell the two 
elements are intimately united in a latent condition, so that an 
ordinary cell is hermaphrodite or neuter, sexless, by which I mean 
it has no sexual differentiation. Diagrammatically this condition 
may be represented by Fig. 9, A. To form an egg the male por- 
tion is removed in several parts, which are the polar globules, 
while one large portion becomes the egg or thelyblast, Fig. 9, B. 
To form the spermatozoa, the two elements separate, the mother 
nucleus, or female part, remains behind, and if my hypothesis is 
correct, it, as well as the egg, must be called a thelyblast; the 
spermatozoa are discharged, and are capable of further vitality. 
They are the homologues of the polar globules. For both struc- 
tures the common name arsenoblast has been suggested. If the 
above hypothesis is valid, 
then there is a funda- 
mental distinction between 
*0 ) \Sx# @ ® cells on the one hand, and 
® °" the genoblasts (the sexual 
JJjjJ ''— D '■'■- '\. i] }{ P roducts ) on tne other- 

egg with polar with every genoblast contains 

spe m t oa only one sexual element, 

every cell contains both. When sexual reproduction occurs, a 
thelyblast from one source unites with an arsenoblast from 
another source — the two by their fusion complete a perfect cell, 
which is called the impregnated ovum. In the next article this 
process will be described. 

In conclusion I wish to repeat that the conception of sex here 
advanced is only an hypothesis, which further research may cast 
aside, but which I hope may be confirmed, because it is already 
possible to bring forward many strong arguments in its favor. 




i88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 107 

For the convenience of those who may wish to pursue these 
subjects further, I quote below some of the principal articles, 
especially those which contain further bibliographical references : 



niltze. Das Protoplasma der Rbizopoden und der Pflanzenzellen. Eii 
zur Theorie der Zelle. Leipzig, 1863. 

nn. Untersuchungen ueber das Protoplasma. Sitz. berichte Akad 

7i<m. 1873,111. Abth. 

ivig. Beitrage zur einheitlichen Auffassiini: ■ 



ling. Zur Kenntniss der Zelle und V. 



^uir.Journ. Micros. Scl 


ence, xn 


:(i8 7 9),p. 1: 


29- 


B Onthfcfliui, 


u , NVpri 


iK of Protozoa. 


'. E. Rhizopoden Studi 


en. 








x, 3 2S; 










, nd)-t Heme 








Morph. jahr 












Ueber den Dendrocometes parad 




tc. Zeit. f. wii 


.(1877). 








Beitrage zur Ventniss d 


er Flagellaten und e 




Zeit. f. whs. Zool., xx 


x, 205 (1 


87S). 






K.M.plb 




ie Entwickelur 


Satrachiern schmarotzen. 


len Opa 


linen. Zeit. 


wiss. Zool., x: 



, R. Der Organismus der Radi.darien. Jena. Denksch., I. 129. 
Kecherehe- ' ' ' ■- sur les Xoetihuiues. Av 

norm, pathol. 2™ Ser., T. V., p. 415. (Paris, 1878.) 



Ludwig, H. Ueber die Elbi'lduiig'im ThiJrrciche. 


Arbeiten. Zool. zoot. I 


Wiirzburg. Herausgegeben von C. Semper. Bd 


. 1, p. 287(1874)- (An 








igsvorgange der Eizelle 


Zelltheilung, und die Conjugation der Infusorien. 


Abh. Senkberg. Nat. fors 


Ges., x, P . 213 (1876). 





ung und Theil- 



2t«=r Theil. Morph. Jahrb. m, p. I. 
3ter Theil. Morph. Jahrb. IV, p. 177- 
Fol, H. Recherches sur la fecondation < 



g der Befriichtung am Ei d 



ID STRUCTURE OF Sl'ERMA' 

1857), P- 532-537- 



Das Urogenital system d 
en Sangethiere. Arbeitei 
>Vachsthum und Verander 



THE CONVOLUTION OF THE TRACHEA IN THE 
SANDHILL AND WHOOPING CRANES. 



IT is welt known to ornithologists, that in many birds there are 
various peculiar modifications of ! the trachea, or windpipe, 
which, it is supposed, serve the purpose of adding some particu- 
lar quality to the voice. Passing by the numerous minor instan- 
ces of this structure as seen frequently in ducks, in some geese 
and a few other birds, we find it most strikingly exhibited among 
the cranes and swans. In certain species of these two groups the 
trachea enters the enlarged and excavated keel of the sternum, 
and after a number of convolutions, varying in position and ex- 
tent with the species, passes out at the place of entrance and thence 
into the lungs. In such cases, at least, it is plainly great strength 
and volume of tone which are imparted, as is clearly evidenced 
by the powerful utterances for which these birds are noted. 



i88o.] 109 

It is the present purpose to speak of this point of structure 
only as it exists in the two American species of cranes, Grus 
amcncana and Grus canadensis, with special attention called to 
its presence in the latter. 

That the trachea is remarkably convoluted within the sternum 
in the whooping crane (G. americana) has been pointed out and 
fully described by Dr. Elliott Coues, in his " Birds of the North- 
west." But the mistake is there made of stating (on the evidence 
of others, I believe) that in the sandhill crane (G. canadensis) the 
trachea is simple ; and this supposed entire difference between the 
two species is presented as strong anatomical evidence of their 



The fact is, however, that the trachea is convoluted within the 
keel in the sternum in G. canadensis as well as in G. americana. 
This I have determined by the examination of four sterna of can- 
adensis, three of which were prepared by myself from birds posi- 
tively identified as canadensis by the generally recognized external 
characters. Two sterna of americana have been examined : one 
the same that was described by Dr. Coues, and with which I have 
had the opportunity of comparing specimens through the cour- 
tesy of Dr. R. O. Sweeny, president of the St. Paul Academy of 
Natural Sciences ; the other a specimen recently prepared by Mr. 
Wm. Howling, taxidermist, of Minneapolis, Minn., and in whose 
collection I saw the adult bird from which it was taken. One side 
of the keel was neatly cut away by Mr. Howling, at my sugges- 
tion, and the specimen freely offered for use in the present con- 
nection. It is identical in structure with the St. Paul specimen, 
and is the one from which the drawing has been made. 

Although there is not such a radical difference as supposed by 
Dr. Coues, yet the two species are distinct in respect to their 
tracheal and sternal development. A glance at the drawings will 
show this at once. Thev are alike in so far as the trachea enters the 
Vernal keel in each. But in canadensis the whole sternum is 
smaller and less stoutly developed ; the coils of the windpipe are 
confined to the anterior half of the keel, and it is this portion alone 
that is enlarged; there are only about eight inches (average of 
four specimens) of windpipe in the keel, to twenty-seven inches 
(average of two specimens) in americana; the walls of the sternal 
cavity are much more imperfectly ossified than in americana, 
where they are everywhere on the outside dense, hard bone. On 



no The Convo; fa a in the [February, 

the whole the entire conformation of the trachea and sternum in 
canadensis is much simpler than in americana. 

Although only the anterior portion of the keel is enlarged for 
the reception of the trachea in canadensis, yet the remainder of 




the keel is not solid bone; but, instead, 
plates separated by a thin layer of bony meshwork. This light 
structure of the posterior part of the keel is more pronounced in 
some specimens than in others, reaching the greatest development 
yet seen, in a sternum which shows also the greatest convolution 
of the trachea. 



Sandhill and Whooping Cranes. 



1880.] 

The following short description of the course of the trachea 
within the keel in canadensis will be sufficient in connection with 
the drawing presented : Entering the keel at its lower anterior 
angle, the trachea follows the lower edge of the keel for about an 



N 




fic;. 



-Gh'LS AMERICANA. 



inch and then curves strongly upward and forward, until it has 
turned nearly one-half of a circle, when it passes by a scarcely 
Perceptible curve to the upper anterior point of the sternum ; 
lying for a part of the distance in a groove formed for its recep- 
tion in the body of the bone and which is visible as a semi-cylin- , 
dncal projection on the inner surface of the sternum in front. 



1 1 2 The Convolution of the Trachea in the [February, 

From here the trachea reaches the point of entrance by a strong 
double curve, forming a figure which is a perfect letter S, the 
lower turn being within the first large coil, and the upper follow- 
ing the anterior outline of the keel. The cavity is three and one- 
quarter inches long, just one-half of the entire length of the keel. 
There are two unoccupied spaces between the coils — a small one 
filled with bony meshwork and a larger one entirely hollow. This 
description is from the specimen figured, which has been selected 
as representing very nearly the average of four. Two others 
show some variations worthy of mention. In a large sternum 
from a female bird, there is less convolution and fully two inches 
less of windpipe inside the keel. The upper loop does not fill the 
anterior part of the cavity, and on entering the keel the trachea 
does not go as far back or form the same kind of curve. But 
little more than one-half of the length of the keel is excavated. 
The third specimen shows a higher development than the one 
figured. The coils are large and occupy nearly the entire hollow, 
which is fully one-half the length of the keel. The posterior 
lower edge of the keel is thickened — much like the same part fur- 
ther forward — and cancellated inside ; while the walls of the an- 
terior cavity are more fully ossified than in either of the others. 

In an embryo crane, 1 stated to be the sandhill, which was just 
about to break the shell when collected, the trachea does not enter 
the sternum at all and is perfectly simple. But the anterior part 
of the keel, which is, of course, entirely cartilaginous and very 
diminutive, is, comparatively speaking, much thickened, and a 
cross section shows it to consist of two thin walls separated by 
a marrow-like substance. In this feature of the sternum, we see 
the only indication in the embryo of the singular structure to be 
developed later in life. The degree of complexity of the trachea 
is thus shown to be dependent upon age, and the variations just 
alluded to are no doubt fully accounted for by this fact. 

It is unnecessary to frame a new description of the convolu- 
tions of the trachea in americana, as that furnished by Dr. Coues is 
excellent. The following extracts from it are given for the con- 
venience of the reader. " The sternal keel is broad and tumid, 
and is entirely excavated. The greater part of the excavation is 
occupied by the singular duplications of the trachea ; * * but 



1 880.] Sandhill and Whooping Cranes, 1 1 3 

there are two — an anterior and a posterior — large empty air cells 
in the bone, with smooth walls, and two other air cells— one 
superior and one along the edge of the keel — filled with light 
bony meshvvork. * * * The trachea, entering the apex of 
the keel, traverses the whole contour of the keel in a long verti- 
cal coil, emerges at the front upper corner of the keel, enters 
again at the lower corner of the keel, and makes a smaller 
vertical coil in the center, emerging again where it went in. On 
looking at the object from the front, we see three parallel verti- 
cal coils side by side ; the middle one is the trachea coming 
down from the neck above ; on the left hand is the bulge of the 
first great coil ; on the right is the windpipe passing to the lungs 
after it has made its second coil inside." 1 Following this is a 
statement to the effect that " there are about twenty-eight inches 
of windpipe coiled away in the breast-bone," and that altogether, 
from the upper larynx to the bronchi, the trachea is fifty-eight 
inches in length, and this in a bird that is little over four feet long 
from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. 

The average of three specimens shows the entire length of the 
trachea in canadensis to be about twenty-seven inches. 

Audubon, who regarded G. canadensis as the young of G. 
americana, has, curiously enough, left us a description of the 
tracheal apparatus of the former but not of the latter. His 
description is taken from the sternum of a crane which he kept 
for a season in confinement, and which the reader would be led 
to infer turned white while in Audubon's possession, though this 
change of plumage is not directly stated to have occurred. I 
quote the brief description which, it will be readily seen, applies 
to canadensis and not to americana : " The trachea, which is 
thirteen inches long to its entrance between the crura of the 
furculum, passes into a cavity in the sternum where it curves 
so as to describe two-thirds of a circle, returns on the right 
side and enters the thorax by curving backwards. The cavity 
of the sternum is two inches long, with an equal depth, and 
a breadth of three-quarters of an inch. The ridge of the 
keel is, at its fore part, three-quarters in breadth, and contracts 
to one-half inch at its junction with the angle of the furcula, 
which is continuous with it. * * * * Boston specimen." 
It is strange that Audubon, who appears to have been a close 

'Besides at page 530 of " Birds of the Northwest," this description may also be 



1 14 The Development of Moina. [February, 

observer of the general anatomical characteristics of his sub- 
jects, never examined the sternum of the adult G. americana, 
but only of what he considered the young. Yet we must con- 
clude this to have been the case, for had it been otherwise, we 
certainly should not have been left with only the above descrip- 
tion given without comment. 

In conclusion, I cannot refrain from alluding to a subject which 
it were better, perhaps, to leave untouched at this time. In 
making careful, detailed comparisons of the several sterna in my 
possession, in order to determine exactly in what particulars the 
two species differ, I could but notice that only two important 
conditions need be fulfilled to change the sternum of canadensis 
into that of americana. If the remaining portion of the keel in 
canadensis were thickened and hollowed, and the trachea should 
gradually increase in length, the arrangement seen in americana 
would certainly result, for the disposition of the trachea in- the 
latter species is exactly what would be produced by its forcing 
itself into the narrow limits of the keel. This may be simply an 
interesting relationship existing between the two structures, or it 
may have a deeper significance as the nature of the variations 
among the sterna of canadensis pointed out above, seems to 
imply. But considerations of this nature must be left for further 
investigation — until material of a determinative kind has been 
obtained. 

EXPLANATION OF CUTS. 



and coracoids are in position in each. 
These drawings were very kindly made fc 
riend, Mr. C. L. Herrick. They are about . 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOINA. 1 

BY J. S. KINGSLEY. 

Carl Grobben having recently published one of the 



D 



accounts of the development of one of the Daph- 
idze which has yet appeared, an abstract of his paper may prove 
f value to American naturalists. 

x Die Entwickelun.i^ i H--clm:hte <lcr Mohia nrtimstris. Arbiten aus dem Zoolog- 
chen Institute der University. Wien. Tom. n, 2 heft, 1879, pp. 66, pis. 7. 



The Development of Moina. 




u6 The Dt : ta. [February, 

The eggs of Moina are oval and measure about one-tenth of 
a millimetre in length. Segmentation occurs first on the minor 
and then on the major axis, thus producing four cleavage spheres. 
A polar view of these is shown in Fig. I, the food granules 
{deutoplasni) being seen between the blastomeres. Another divi- 
sion produces eight segments, but after this, cleavage takes place, 
at unequal rates in different parts of the egg. As we understand 
the matter, these cleavage planes do not all pass completely 
through the yolk. In the resulting mulberry stage the " genital 
cell " (which afterwards produces the genital system) is differen- 
tiated even before the first signs of the gastrula stage. (Fig. 2 g, 
genital cells or the cells which by invagination produce the endo- 
derm. In these cells the so-called Amphiaster is shown.) Soon 
there begins an invagination of the endodermal cells, and other cells 
arise beneath the ectodermal cells near the genital cells. These form 
the mesoderm. Others, opposite the genital cells, are larger, and 
these form the cephalic germinal plate, " scheitel platte." (Fig. 3, 
an optical section ; ec, ectoderm ; ms, mesoderm ; g, genital cells; 
g m, gastrula mouth ; en, the cells which form the endoderm ; 
c, cephalic germinal plate ; D, deutoplasm.) Then the gastrula 
mouth closes up, the genital and endodermal cells become inter- 
nal, the body is constricted and a fold is formed on either side, 
the first indication of appendages, which develops into the second 
antennae. A depression occurs in the ectodermal cells, where 
finally the mouth appears. (Fig. 4, lettering as before ; a", second 
antenna; ; ;;/, depression for mouth.) In the next phase two more 
appendages have budded, the antennulae and mandibles, while the 
antennal bud becomes tvvo-lobed. This constitutes the nauplius 
stage. (Fig. 5, a', antennulae; md, mandible.) Next, two of the 
thoracic feet are indicated, then -two more, the brain begins to 
appear, the mouth depression is deeper, the anus is indicated and 
the genital cells divide and are placed on each side of the median 
line. Then the maxillae and the fifth pair of feet appear; the eye 
begins to be developed from the ectodermal cells, the shell gland 
is present and the abdominal bristles are outlined. (Fig. 6, // b" , 
brain ; mx x mx*, first and second maxillae; / l -J 5 , thoracic feet ; 6r, 
branchial sacs; a/?, abdominal bristles ; a, anus ; s, shell gland; 
V, vitelline membrane ; other letters as before.) The succeeding 
changes are those of increase in size of the appendages, in which 
joints appear, the formation of the shell, appearance of heart and 
the covering of the eye, and at last the animal acquires the perfect 
form (Fig. 7, from Baird). 



i88o.] Editors' Table. WJ 

EDITORS' TABLE. 
editors: a. s. Packard, jr., and e. d. cope. 

In our last number we called attention to the status of the 

modified organization of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia, which was adopted four years ago. We also referred 
to a document relating to it, which was recently issued by a 
majority of a meeting of the council of that body. We criticised 
this document adversely, but did not enter into a detailed exami- 
nation of it, thinking that the general confusion of ideas and 
unworthiness of sentiment to be found in it, were too self-evident 
to require refutation. Since, however, many of the members of 
the academy have voted to support the policy which is embodied 
in it, some of whom have not understood its drift, while others 
have not even read it, we give space to a criticism of some of its 
salient points. 

From the positions assumed by the author of this document, 
we select the following: 

(i.) " Under the letter and spirit of the by-laws, the professors 
constitute, in fact, a class of beneficiaries of the academy. * * 
It is not apparent that it is essential to the prosperity of the 
academy to admit any class of its beneficiaries or subordinates to 
participate in the administration of its affairs. Nor is it manifest 
that their studies or the performance of their prescribed duties 
would be facilitated by their being made members of the council 
for life " (p. 9). Imagine language like this addressed to the acad- 
emicians of Paris or St. Petersburg ! And the presence in the 
council of two paid employes of the academy at the present time, 
has never disturbed any one's composure, probably because they 
are not likely to be candidates for professorial honors. 

(2.) " Those students who are not obliged to follow a vocation 
for a livelihood are not in need of the benefits oT a professorship, 
or of the Jessup Fund, to enable them to pursue their studies in 
the academy " (p. 9). So then, Hebert and Gaudry, and others, 
are not eligible to chairs in the Jardin des Plantes and the Sof- 
bonne, because they are rich; and so with many others in all 
parts of Europe ! But there are reasons other than the posses- 
sion of pecuniary means, why a man should not be a professor in 
the academy ; for, 

(3) " The professors are to have custody of all the collections 
in the museum, worth together, possibly, a quarter of a million 



II 8 Editors' Table. [February, 

of dollars. They give no valuable security or pledge to be for- 
feited should they fail to preserve the integrity of the collections. 
* * No better opportunity can be offered to tempt men to 
enrich their private cabinets at the expense of the academy than 
this proposition presents. It is not prudent to expose the 
property of the academy to such chances without any check or 
protection under its own laws, and confide it unreservedly to the 
purity and incorruptibility of the professors and the laws which 
inflict punishment for larceny and burglary." The author of this 
language does not seem to be aware that i't must excite astonish- 
ment in the minds of scientists everywhere, and that it is a 
boomerang which recoils upon the policy he supports. If there 
is any class of persons to whom property of an academy of 
sciences should not be entrusted, it is the amateurs and collectors 
who do not make original research their profession. Now too 
lax in administration of a collection, some accident occurs; then 
too strict in their surveillance, collections become practically 
inaccessible. Not knowing the value of material from the stand- 
point of research, they accumulate show collections, and neglect 
the fields where science reaps her true harvests. The true scien- 
tist does not care to possess collections, excepting so far as they 
are necessary for the prosecution of research, and depredations 
on museums do not come from this class. Once in charge of a 
museum of importance, they naturally take pride in it, and spare 
no pains to preserve in it all records of scientific work. This can 
never be felt by the mere employe, nor by the average corporation 
trustee. Neither class can criticise the work of the specialist as 
the specialists can each other. Not to enumerate self-evident 
truths, the sum of the matter is, that this document desires the 
exclusion from the administration of the collections, the only per- 
sons who are competent for the work. It demands security 
from these, while none is required at present from men who are 
entirely ineligible. 

We do not believe that a majority of the members of the 
academy are prepared to sustain the above positions, but suspect 
that their votes have been influenced by consideration of the 
three following very misleading statements, which form the 
recapitulation at the close of the paper under consideration. 

(i.) We quote: "It is notorious that the Academy, since its 
beginning in 1812, has been managed chiefly by, and always in 
the interest of its experts, those members most distinguished for 
their learning, and students" (p. 10). This we deny; and in 
evidence state that instead of its being managed by its experts, 
there are, at present, in a council normally of twenty-three mem- 
bers, but four who make the pursuit of science their business, 
but two of whom are officers of the academy, and only one of 
whom is a curator. Moreover, the by-laws expressly provide 
that the prospective professors shall not be members of the coun- 



i88o.] Editors' Table. 119 

oil. Whether it is managed in the interest of the specialists may 
be inferred from the fact that most of these gentlemen do their 
work at private houses and do not place their collections in the 
building of the academy. It is undoubtedly to the interest of the 
original investigator, at the present time not to work there, and 
many reasons for this may be elicited, on enquiry, by any one 
interested in pursuing this part of the subject. 

(2.) It is objected, in various paragraphs that "the effect of the 
proposed alteration will be to make the council ultimately con- 
sist of twelve professors elected by the council for life and the 
eleven officers of the academy elected annually for one year. 
The officers of the academy will always be a minority in the 
council, and when one person fills two offices this minority will 
be more decided." In our opinion this provision is an important 
element in the proper administration of the affairs of an academy 
of sciences. The development of science being the primary 
object of the institution, those persons who devote their time to 
it should constitute a majority of its management, while others 
may be called in as important aids and counsellors. In institu- 
tions having other objects it is customary to call in scientific 
experts as aids, but not to make them a majority of the manage- 
ment. It is also evident that the specialists are the best, if not 
the only critics of each other's conduct, while the supposition that 
they will combine to plunder the academy, is preposterous. But 
here let us observe, that as the by-laws provide that the council 
shall elect the professors, the matter is in their own hands as to 
what class shall be in the majority. Hence the statement that 
the new by-law discussed, at once creates a majority of professors 
in the council, is erroneous. And it was on this false issue that 
the late election was probably decided. It will be very easy to 
rectify any defects of this part of the plan, if necessary. 

(3) " The appointment of professors cannot be reasonably 
expected until endowments for their compensation have been 
obtained." This proposition has been put forth ad nauseam by 
the opponents of the plan under discussion. I laving excluded pro- 
fessors from council, they ask for applications, and because there 
are none, expect us to believe that the plan "has failed" for want 
of funds. They ignore the fact that the curators who now per- 
form the more laborious part of the work of the proposed professors 
are not salaried officers, though they employ one of their own 
number to fulfill certain duties. They forget that one professor 
has been appointed and is performing his duties. They do not 
realize, perhaps, that the learned conservator of the conchological 
section is, in all important respects, professor at the present tune. 
And such has been the advantage of this arrangement, that that 
|; l; nt! !" nt has expanded into the most extensive one in the 
institution. Why cannot other departments be similarly admin- 
istered ? The scientists of the city who are working in their 



120 Recent Literature. [February, 

own studios are certainly not getting salaries for it ! It is to the 
advantage of the academy to utilize, if possible, all these now 
scattered ways and means. And is it not a reflection on human 
nature that suggestions to this end should be looked upon as 
" Macchiavellian schemes for selfish ends," or attempts to obtain 
control of the academy's collections ? We want no better evidence 
than such language, to show that something more important 
than money is wanting here. The need of something else was 
very evident during our Centennial, when enormous collections, 
which might have been had for the asking, were allowed to be 
taken to Washington under our very eyes. 

We close with an allusion to the opinion expressed in this part 
of the paper, that " the professors would be the only experts who 
would have free access to the collections." There is no provision 
to this effect expressed or implied in the by-laws or the proposed 
alteration of them. The by-laws provide for the reverse. The 
privileges now enjoyed by members of the academy would not 
be restricted in the least, but would rather be increased through 
the additions to the collections which would follow. The new 
by-law simply protects the new material which may hereafter be 
obtained through the exertions of a professor for purposes of re- 
search, from distribution through the museum, before it is used, 
and specifies who shall use it first. This is simple justice, and it 
will ever remain the condition on which the academy's collections 
can be increased in any important degree. Expectations of ob- 
taining collections in any other way are illusive. By new material 
is not meant material new to the museum, but that which is new 
to science. At present, this entire subject, which is the working 
basis of the institution, is thoroughly misunderstood. It is not 
well to fear the granting of these privileges, for it is a question of 
their being enjoyed by a few persons or by none at all. No two 
persons can use the same material at the same time, nor can its 
first use be enjoyed by more than one person. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 

Notes on New England Isopoda. 1 — In this paper we have a 
list, with notes on the distribution, of forty-three species of 
Isopoda found on the coast of New England (including one which 
has not yet been observed south of Labrador). Janira spinosa 
and Lcptochela rapax are the only new species described. Of 
these forty-three species, ten have been found only south of Cape 
Cod ; fifteen are common to both sides, and eighteen appear only 
north of the cape, and eleven occur on the European shores. 
Of these eleven, Tauais vittatus has been found south of the 

1 Notes on New England Isopoda. By Oscar Harger. Proceedings of the United 
S:.itcs X.vti mal Muslim, 1879, pp. 157-165. 



i88o.J Recent Literature. 121 

cape but not north, while Jara albifrons {copiosa Stm.), IdoUa 
irrorata, Liinnoria lignonim and Lcptochcla algicola are found on 
both sides of that promontory. In the paper we notice that no 
species of Bopyridc-E (with the exception of Cepori distortus) is 
reported south of Massachusetts. Dr. Leidy informs us that 
during the last summer he found Crangon vulgaris at Atlantic 
City, N. J., badly infested with another species. — J. S. K. 

Carcinological Papers of Paul Mayer. 1 — We have here 
two papers, one on the color changes of the Isopoda, the 
other descriptive of a new parasitic crustacean, Ive balanoglossi, 
found, as the name indicates, in the body cavity of Balaru>gk$su. 
The sexes closely resemble each other, except that the males are 
much the smaller. The body is not segmented, but the five pairs 
of appendages which are present show their articulate character 
more plainly than in many Lerneans. The stomach is a blind 
sac, and the circulatory apparatus is wanting. The male adheres 
to the female near the genital opening. Dr. Mayer succeeded in 
rearing the Nauplius from eggs.— J. S. K. 

Herrick's Entomostraca. 2 — It is occasionally our lot to run 
across the productions of some naturalist, who, laboring under 
the impression that the scientific world has been at a standstill for 
a quarter of a century, deems it his duty to start it, and the re- 
sult is almost invariably the same, it retards the motion which, 
though inappreciable to his senses, nevertheless existed. The 
time necessary to unravel the confusion produced in synonymy by 
such persons is enormous, and the amount of work required can 
only be appreciated by the systematist. 

Such a work is now before us and seems to demand some slight 
attention. The author seems to have had very slight access 
to the literature of the subject, and to be entirely ignorant of any 
work done since the days of Baird's British Entomostraca (1850), 
and Dana's Crustacea of the U. S. Exploring Expedition ( 1 852), the 
works of Claus, P. E. Muller, G. O. Sars, Liiljeborg, Brady, Birge, 
etc., being unknown to him. The synonymy quoted, however, would 
at first sight indicate an extensive acquaintance with the bibliog- 
raphy, but a slight examination shows that all references are 
taken second-hand and no credit is given ; for instance, fifiy-five 
references are quoted from Daphnia pulex verbatim (but owing to 
careless proofreading not literatim) from Baird's British En- 
tomostraca, and we would venture to say not one of them has 
been verified by our author, and what is more, his Pierian font, 
Baird's work, is not quoted at all in connection with that species. 
We had supposed that the classification of the lower Crustacea 



K ,n,/ 



juoted at; 
lat the el 


ill in con 

.is.Mlkatio 


nection' with that 
n of the lower 


Zoologist 


», Station 


» Neap.-!. I bd. 4 1 


lci, by C. L. 


He: rick, in 
vcy ..fMinn 


esota, 1879. PP- 8*" I2 3 



122 Recent Literature. [February, 

was in passable condition, but we are informed [p. 84] that "it is 
not possible at this stage of the study to attempt a systematic ar- 
rangement." On page 85 it is stated that the Rhizocephala and 
and Cirripedia " are enclosed in a hard shell-like test," which is 
true of no adult; Rhizocephala and some barnacles are exceptions. 
On the same page we are told that the sucker-like organ on the 
head of Sida corresponds to the pedicle [peduncle] of the barna- 
cles, a statement showing very elastic ideas of homology. Our 
author, also contrary to the ideas of the best morphologists, rec- 
ognizes an ocular segment, and excludes the telson from a posi- 
tion among the somites of the body. The Naturalist is not 
the place, nor have we time to rectify the synonymy of the forms 
described, and to assign them to their proper position, but several 
forms, if the drawings are accurate, are placed at least in wrong 
genera. The typographical errors are numerous ; Desmarest's 
name appears with three different orthographies, the abbreviation 
" Knc. meth" under three distinct forms. Loven as " Loren," 

but the worst of all is "qualities" for gnathites (p. 86). 

The illustrative figures are clearly printed, but of their accuracy 
we are not certain, and many points which are important from a 
systematic standpoint are slighted or ignored, thus rendering it 
difficult for the future reviser of the American species to classify 
the forms here described, and a quotation from p. 86, seems to 
exactly describe the condition of affairs brought about by this 
work. The curious misapprehensions and inaccuracies into 
which authors have fallen still further complicates the matter.— 
J. S. Kingsley. 

The Misses Jones ,\\n Siirr.xi:'s Nests and Eggs of the Birds 
of Ohio 1 — The just appreciation and cordial encouragement ac- 
corded by scientific critics to Part I, of this beautiful work must 
have prepared a welcome on the part of the public for the further 
installment issued in October last. Not only does its unique en- 
semble render it attractive, but it presents a combination of the 
useful and the agreeable of science and of art, to a very rare 
degree. In these days, when the great majority of periodical 
publications afford specimens of the progress in art-culture in 
this country, and the public grows more capable of criticiz- 
ing the results of original efforts with the pencil and brush, 
such work as the talented and enterprising authors of these 
"Illustrations" have wrought, will be justly ranked high in 
general estimation. The originality of method of this work, 
which copies some of the prettiest and most varied objects in na- 
ture, the pleasing combinations in the drawings, the faithfully 
imitative style of coloring, and the tasteful finish of the text, 

" > Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio. With text. By Gene- 

\ievt K. fune> an<[ Kliz 1 J. Shu!/.-. Folio. Published by the Authors. Circlevilie, 



i88o.] Recent Literature. 123 

render these folios almost matchless as contributions to natural 
science, and to picturesque art for the library or for the parlor 
table. The sad death of one of the authors, in early life, and in 
sight of the goal of success, has added an appeal to our sym- 
pathy to the just claims of the work upon public appreciation. 
Miss Jones died last August, of a fever doubtless aggravated by 
her earnest efforts and mental anxiety concerning her work, 
though that portion of her labor already accomplished will be in- 
corporated in the numbers of the publication yet to appear, Miss 
Shulze is engaged with Miss Jones's parents in the completion of 
the plan in which the two ladies originally joined ; and Miss 
Jones's name will continue to be appropriately connected with that 
of the surviving collaborateuse. The present part gives three 
illustrations, being those of the Indigo bird, Cyanospiza cyanea, 
the marsh blackbird, Agelczus phceniceus, and the kingbird, Tyran- 
nies Caroline mis, with text of the crow bhekbird, Quiscalus ceneus. 
The work will continue in parts until the roo plates are com- 
pleted.— Sarah 0. Aiken, Washington, D. C. 

Nicholson's Manual of Paleontology. 1 — The present book 
consists of two volumes of nicely printed text, illustrated by 
many good engravings. The attractive appearance of the " Man- 
ual," and the fact that it contains a good deal of information, 
compiled from many sources, produces a favorable impression, 
and leads one to expect an able treatment of the subject matter. 
So far as regards the department of Vertebrata we are disap- 
pointed. The work, doubtless, has a value in bringing to the 
notice of students a considerable number of extinct forms, by 
furnishing good wood engravings. The cuts of recent Verte- 
brata are generally bad. But the definitions, especially those of 
the higher groups, are exceedingly defective, and the classifica- 
tions adopted are generally antiquated or incorrect. In old 
world palaeontology we find, for instance, the classification of 
Stcgocephali (" Lalyrinthodontia") of Mr. Miall incorporated 
bodily; a system, if such it can be called, where all sorts of 
characters have been put to impossible uses, and the laws of 
nomenclature extensively disregarded. Especial prominence has 
been given to American palaeontology, but it is evident that, to 
use a political phrase, the delegation from the United States has 
been "fixed." The author has profited singularly little by the 
publications of the General and State Governments of America, 
but has apparently taken as his guide, Prof. O. C. Marsh's address 
before the American Association for 1877. This paper is well 
known here as little more than a record of what is taught by its 
author to the exclusion of other authorities, and on this account 



Blackwood & Sons, 



, Prof, of Nat. Hist 



124 Recent Literatute. [February, 

does not represent the subject to which it refers. If the author 
of the manual under review will examine into the claims of the 
nomenclature he has so extensively quoted from this source, he 
will find that a great part of it has either no foundation in analyti- 
cal work, or has been proposed without regard to priority. Such 
are Dinoceras, / tc, etc. The erroneous 

figure of the skull of Coryphodon is copied, when a correct one 
could easily have been found. Further attention to this depart- 
ment will enable the author to do it justice in a future edition. 



I, par 




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The Cali 


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Magazine. 8v 



Club. 8vo, Vol. vi. Nov., 1879. From the 



Dec, 1879. Londc 



1 
ited the valleys of ih< Ohio md Mi.^is.ippi, t..gethei wit!) m investigation into tl 
! mtler Co, 






i88o.] Recent Literature. 

Contributions from the E. M . Museum of G«ology and Archeology of Pri 



ry. Vol. XX, Pt. 2, Novem- 
ber, 1878-April, 1879. 8vo, pp. 113-224. Boston, Nov., 1879. From the society. 
The Journal of the Franklin Institute. Vol. CVHI, No. 647. Nov., 1879. From 
the institute. 

Geological Survey of Japan. Reports of Progress for 1878-7. By Renjamin 
Smith Lvimn. Svo, pp. "i-.\ and 206. To »kei, [apan, 1879. Published by the 
Public Works Department. From the author. 

Ohio Geological Survey. Remark, of Col. Charles Whittlesey before the Geo- 
logical Committee, Ohio 'Legislature. March II, 1879. 8vo, pp. 4. 

The Geological Controversy. Prof. E. B. Andrews in Reply to the Letter of Dr. 



J. Barrois. (From the J. 
Uhologiquesdel'Ho 



al School° By H. P. Bjwditch, M'.D. Ppr. 



, l " "->nge.d Uespii nion. By G. M. Garland, 
ology, Vol. 11, No. 1.) 8vo, pp. 9, 1 plate. 

The Effect of the Respiratory Movements on 
>_■ rWditch, M.I)., and C. M." Garland. M.D. 

The Growth of Chi 



of Research. By II. P. Bowditdil M.D. Boston, 1879. 8vo, 



bnoxious Insects. Phylloxera. Potato Beetle, Cotton Worm, Colo- 
nd Greenhouse Pests', by Application of the Vea>t Fungus. By 
Cambridge, 1879- 8vo, pp. 9. 



[February, 

i Seas. By Rev. A. M. 



lie Willen.M..i ;1 Group ..!" Crustacea. By Rev. A. M. 
and Magazine of Natural History for Nov., 1878.) 8v. 
arks on the Recent Eryontidse. By Rev. A. M. Norn 



GENERAL NOTES. 
BOTANY. 

Fertilization of Flowers by Humming Birds. 1 — For several 
years some persons of this place have been watching the birds 
about flowers. They visit flowers for at least two objects, for 
insects and for nectar, and perhaps for pollen in some cases. Pollen 
grains have been found on the bill and feathers of the head of 
humming birds. These birds have been seen to frequent flowers 
of pelargoniums, fuchsias, trumpet-creepers, phloxes, verbenas, 
catmint, milkweed, tropaeolums, honeysuckles, lilacs, morning- 
glories, cherry, wild balsams. I have no doubt they visit a great 
variety of other flowers which secrete honey in abundance. Mr. 
Osband visited trumpet-creepers, in flower, in bright days, and 
always saw birds. On one plant he saw eight birds at one time. 

The pollen of fuchsias is sticky or in strings. Humming birds 
are the main visitors to the flowers. The calyx tube seems too 
long and narrow for most insects. Mr. Hollingsworth is very 
sure these birds visit the plant for nectar. Sometimes they 
pierce through the base of the calyx tube and take out the nec- 
tar. The student last named covered some flowers and found 
the stigmas were dusted with pollen without the aid of bees or 
birds. The ovaries also swelled as though forming seeds. 

Mr. Wm. Snyder observed the fertilization of Impatiens fulva. 
The anthers form a covering over the pistil. He tiecfbags over 
young flower buds, also over flowers which had opened but 
before the stamens had disappeared. In both cases no good seeds 
were produced. Some he tied up and artificially crossed. The 
latter, without exception, matured fruit. In other cases he cut 
off all the petals of the flowers. He took down the signs. None 
of these set fruit. In other cases the nectar gland only was 
removed, with no fruit setting. 

Sometimes he saw a large number of black bees at work, 
seemingly trying to get what exercise and nectar they could. 
They ran in and out many times, and hardly ever touched an 
anther or pistil. He could not see that the insects were of any 
use in fertilizing the flowers. Small wild bees behaved no better 
as far as carrying pollen was concerned. A common honey bee 
availed nothing in this direction. One humble bee hit pollen in 



-, taken from papers of his young students b 



i88o.] Botany. 127 

his plunges to get at the nectar, but left the plant after trying a 
single flower. In frequent visits he often saw humming birds 
about the flowers going to all that were open at the time. Every 
time the birds thrust their beaks into the flowers, if the stamens 
had not yet been removed, the head, a little above the beak, 
would hit these and become dusted with pollen. Where the 
anthers had been removed the birds head left pollen on the stig- 
mas. He saw, in one cluster, all the flowers visited twice in fif- 
teen minutes. He is confident that Impaticns fulva is cross-fer- 
tilized mainly, if not wholly by humming"birds. 

Connection of the Rainfall with Forests. — According to a 
paper in Polybiblion, the following are the laws of meteorology as 
affected by forests: — I. It rains more abundantly, under identical 
circumstances, over forests than over non-wooded ground.and most 
abundantly over forests with trees in a green condition. 2. The de- 
gree of saturation of the air by moisture is greater above forests than 
over non-wooded ground, and much greater over masses of Pinus 
sylvcstvis than over masses of leaved species. 3. The leafage 
and branches of leafed trees intercept one-third, and those of 
resinous trees the half of the rainwater, which afterwards returns 
to the atmosphere by evaporation. On the other-hand, these same 
leaves and branches restrain the evaporation of the water which 
reaches the ground, and that evaporation is nearly four times less 
under a mass of leafed forest than in the open, and two and one- 
third times only under a mass of pines. 4. The laws of the change 
of temperature out of and under wood are similar so those which 
result from the observations of M. Mathieu. The general con- 
clusion seems to be that forests regulate the function of water, 
and exercise on the temperature, as on the atmosphere, an effect 
of " ponderation " and equilibrium. — English Mechanic. 

The New Mexican Locust Tree, etc.— In the article on Col- 
orado plants in the November number, on page 681, in the note on 
Salix flavescens, the word " hybrid " should read " form." It is 
apparent that no " hybrid " can occur unless both parents are 
found in the same vicinity, which in this instance is not the case. 
Saxifraga chrysantha from Pike's Peak is apparently the same as 
5. serpyllifolia of Porter and Coulter's Catalogue. Artemisia 
arctic a, Cnicus edit lis and Troximon glaucum are referred to, the 
last two under other names. Robinia Ntouicxicana is described 
therein also. E. L. Green, who first collected this species in 

which I take the liberty to quote from his letter. "The clump 
of trees to which you refer was found by me in 1873. It remains 
^>-day the only known habitat of the species north of New 
Mexico, and strange to say, those trees are twice as large as any 
I ever saw in New Mexico ; right on the banks of the river, and 
all around that clump of locusts grows Bigclovia grcenei, which 



128 General Notes. [February, 

no other botanist but myself has ever collected, although Drs. 
Hooker and Gray were over the same ground in 1877, and the 
plant is common along several of Dr. Parry's routes in New 
Mexico. The shrub at a distance, yes, even at the distance of a 
man's eyes from the ground at his feet, looks so much like 
Guturnzia cuthamue (which grows with it) that it must have been 
confounded with that plant by the numerous botanists who have 
crossed the vast tract of country which it inhabits." — Isaac C. 
Martindale. 



the anther-wings of Physianthus albens, published in the last num- 
ber of the American Naturalist, that I exhibited to the Boston 
Society of Natural History, Sept. I, 1852, a specimen of that 
plant, and read a description of the manner in which insects 
became imprisoned in its anthers. The following passage is pub- 
lished in the report of my remarks : " The insects catch them- 
selves, and so often does this occur that a gentleman in New 
York has obtained butterflies, bees and a great variety of other 
insects, enough to fill a large case, from the flowers o( a plant 
growing in his garden."— Chas. J. Sprague. 

We would also add that Prof. C. V. Riley, as he tells us, several 
years ago recorded in the Proceedings of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, the fact that he had found 
moths entrapped by the same plant. — Editors. 

Botanical Notes.— The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 
for November (received December 28th) contains farther notes on 
ballast plants near New York City, by Mr. A. Brown; and Prof. 
p:aton contributes the 7th of his'artides on new and little-known 
ferns of the United States. The Journal of Botany, hitherto con- 
ducted by Mr. Henry Trimen will be edited by Mr. Brittain, 
during the absence of the former in Ceylon, as Director of the Bo- 
tanical Gardens. This journal records the death of the following 
botanists : J. F. Von Brandt, a joint author with the late Dr. 
Ratzeburg, of the Medical Botany and Zoology ; Carlo Bagnis, 
aged 24, and Professor of Botany in the new University of Rome; 
C. J. M. Von Klinggraff, author of a Flora of Prussia, and a me- 
moir on the plant geography of Northern and Arctic Europe. 

Grcvitlea for December, notices Californian Sphreriae, and 

prints an article on the propagation of Splueria fimbriata, by C. 
B. Plowright. The new part of Bentham and Hooker's Gen- 
era of Plants, will be issued in January, and will complete the 

Dicotyledonae. The last part only remains to be published. ■ 

Sir. J. D. Hooker has called attention to the-discovery of a variety 
of the cedar of Lebanon on the mountains of Cyprus. 



Leather Turtle. — Apropos of the article on the "Leather 
Tortoise," in the October Naturalist, perhaps the following may 
be of interest to the author. 

A few years ago, in looking over the papers of Col. Richard 
Varick, the first mayor of the City of New York, in search of 
autographs and documents relating to the Revolutionary War, I 
came across a small circular, about six to seven inches in size, 
printed on the rough, unsized paper used by our forefathers, and 
of which the following is a copy of the subject matter : 

" The dimensions of the Testudo coriacea, or leather tortoise, 
caught by Samuel Coon, one of the branch pilots of New York, 
on board the Young Pilot, by way of Sandy Hook, on the 27th 
Sept., iSn.and purchased by John Scudder, proprietor of the 
American Museum, No. 24 Chatham St., are as follows taken 
under the eye of Dr. Mitchell, professor of natural history: 



' His 

tfron 
800 lbs. 

This little circular, if thus it may be styled, is a very neat and 
modest one, and was, perhaps, printed by the proprietor of the 
museum to call attention to the specimen. You will perceive 
that this capture antedates the one you mention as having been 
made in Massachusetts bay by thirteen years.— J V. R. Gerard. 

The Chipping versus the European SpARRow.-During the 
ast two seasons the much dreaded European cabbage worm 
{fteru rapa) has been infesting the cabbage in this vicinity. 

cou T K e u epartmems of Ornithol °sy and ^ ammaI °gy are c° nducted h >' Dr - ELLIOTT 



130 General Notes. [February, 

Several years earlier came that other pest, the European sparrow 
(Passer domestiats), and has pretty thoroughly driven away 
most of the other species of birds that are usually common 
about dwellings. On my own premises, instead of the cheerful 
music of the wren, robin and cat-bird, which formerly helped to 
make the surroundings attractive, I am compelled to be annoyed 
by miserable squeaks. This season a cabbage patch in my gar- 
den became thoroughly infested by the worms ; I looked anx- 
iously to see how thoroughly the European sparrow would do the 
work for which it has been transported over thousands of miles 
of land and water. But it was very seldom that any of the 
numerous individuals that have harbored about me for the past 
several years ever went near the patch ; occasionally one of the 
young would fly down and take a worm, but I never saw a full- 
grown individual take one. 

By accident I was observing the patch early in the morning, 
from day-break to a short time after sun-rise, when I chanced to 
find a number of chipping sparrows (Spizella socialis Bon.), taking 
worms as busily as possible. By continuing my observations I 
found this was the case every morning as long as the worms 
lasted; but during the rest of the day "chippy" was seldom 
seen in the patch. Whether this early feeding is the natural 
habit of this species, or whether it was not allowed to go about 
the premises during the rest of the day, I cannot say. But it 
did such efficient work that I feel it my duty to make it as widely 
known as possible.— 5. Schneck, M.D., Mt. Carmel, III. 

Depredations of the European Sparrow. — The following 
case, represented to me by Dr. A. K. Fisher, of Sing Sing, N. Y., 
substantiates one of the many charges brought against Passer 
domesticus. 

" About a year ago I was interested in watching a sparrow 
pulling up peas in a neighbor's garden. The peas were up about 
an inch; the bird went along the row, taking the vines in his bill, 
placing his foot near the roots and pulling up the shoots and eat- 
ing the peas. I saw him thus destroy several, when I stopped 
him by throwing a stone which unluckily missed him. 

" The old saying that ' Birds of a feather flock together ' is veri- 
fied in the case of the sparrow's associates. The only bird which 
I have ever found which seemed to enjoy the company of the 
English sparrow, is that miserable form of bird life, the Molo- 
thrus ater. It would be difficut to find two more disreputable 
birds than this precious pair. Here they mix together a good 
deal, especially when the sparrows are a little way out of the vil- 
lage." — Elliott Cones, Washington, D. C. 

On the Torpidity of Animals. — Some time in early December, 
1878, when the snow first began to fly, a silver-haired bat, without 
a place to lie dormant in for the winter, flew into my hallway, about 



i88o.] Zoology. 131 

nine in the evening, at Evanston, 111. I was surprised at discover- 
ing a bat at that time of year, and secured it in a box. It was a bit- 
ter cold night and the bat hung himself up by its claws on the edge 
of the box among the cotton and went into a torpid state. Several 
days afterward I placed him over the fire and thawed him out. 
He became quite lively in the warmth, took a drop of water and 
flew around the room. The following night was the coldest of 
the season, and it again went into a torpid state and remained 
some two weeks jn that condition before it was disturbed. My 
efforts to bring it to life 6n this occasion were not so successful 
as formerly. After much warming it came to sufficiently so that 
two spots of breath would appear on the mirror when held to it. 
In order to get a greater amount of heat to operate on it, I placed 
the box containing it on the fancy top of the stove, turned my 
back to it and became engaged in writing. I had written some 
time when my attention was aroused to a bad scent in the room. 
I turned around but to behold box and bat wrapped in flames. 
This ended my experiments in that direction, I had arrived at the 
following conclusions, however: That animals in a torpid state 
may be aroused by an application of heat; or, in other words, 
torpidity is but a state of lowered temperature of the body. I am 
strengthened in this conclusion by some observations of no little 
importance to the topic under consideration. 

The torpidity of swallows has long been regarded as a tradition, 
but traditions are generally founded on fact, however perverted 
the facts may be. A young man, whose word I regard in all mat- 
ters as perfectly trustworthy, told me that one April day while 
out gunning, he treed a coon. He borrowed an axe and as the 
tree was falling a half-bushel of swallows rolled out from the 
hojlow. In the warm sun of the early spring day many of these 
took life, and consequently wings, and flew away. And why not! 

Last winter the papers were prolific with stories about the 
resuscitation of sheep, cows, and even men, from a frozen state. 
Indeed, it is no secret of late years thai the heat generated by a 
dog will easily bring to its natural state a frozen limb of a man. 
I noticed this fact in the South, the overflow of the Mississippi 
river leaves thousands of :ittle ponds full of tidies, which in winter 
freeze up solidly. The fishes are confined in the ice. When 
these ponds thaw out, in spring, the fishes are liberated and go 
sporting about immediately. Fishes, of course, are cold-blooded 
and may not be affected by the ice. The fact remains, however, 
that during the winter a party of us were mapping the Mississippi, 
about Cairo, in Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri, and that each 
day these fishes could be seen, frozen stiff, in the ice. many of 
which we cut out and examied, and from all appearances, were 
as dead as the logs that strewed the ground. But with the ap- 
proach of warm weather, they were as lively as ever. 

The only instance, in anv wav, against the above observations 



132 General Notes. [February, 

occurred in the great Marshes of Lake Erie. During a severe 
winter the mud and water froze to a great depth. The conse- 
quence was that when the marshes thawed out the shallows were 
covered with dead turtles, snakes, frogs, etc. The unanimous 
opinion of the Corps of Engineers was, that the cause of this whole- 
sale slaughter of the reptiles was some poison permeating the 
marshes, doubtless generated by the slow approach of spring. 
There may be such a thing as being frozen too effectually, how- 
ever, for a good condition of torpidity. As a final instance I may 
note the return of frogs from their winter's quarters, at Camden, 
N. Y. Hundreds of these near this [lace came up from the earth 
in a shallow marsh, tumbling, leaping, and capering about, some 
of them appeared belly up, others with huge bags protruding 
from their mouths. They were all in a weak, half-sensible state, 
but gradually regained strength in the sunlight. 

It is evident that animals do not assume a torpid state in warm 
weather, since no instance of the kind is known or recorded. 
The above instances seem therefore applicable to the previous 
conclusion that animals in a torpid state may be aroused by an 
increase of temperature, or in other words, torpidity is but a low- 
ered temperature, sometimes to the freezing point. — -William 
Hosea Ballon. 

Migration of Dragon Flies.— On the 2d of June, in Wey- 
mouth, Mass , I observed what seemed to be a concerted migra- 
tion of dragon flies, and should be glad to be informed whether 
such movements are of regular occurrence, and if they are, what 
is the explanation of them? I was sitting in a pasture near the 
edge of a wood (the Wood being, perhaps, half a mile deep), at 
about eight o'clock in the morning, when 1 first became aware of 
what was going on. The flies came from over the trees, and 
generally on reaching the pasture, dropped to within five or ten 
feet of the ground, although many flew much higher and some 
went straight across the pasture at an estimated height of forty 
feet. All, with rare exceptions, kept a steady course due west, as 
though they were moving to some appointed rendezvous. They 
came in sight somewhat as waves come upon the beach — one 
minute there were none, and the next there were two or three or 
half a dozen together. I watched them for three hours or more, 
and in the afternoon followed in their train across two roads and 
some pasture lands to the edge of another wood. When they 
reached this wood they seemed, many of them, a little at a loss 
how to proceed, but soon mounted into the air and sailed over 
the trees out of sight. I then visited a small pond in the vicinity 
and took notice that they flew across it and kept on in their 
westerly course. As to the width of the column, I only know 
that it was at least a quarter of a mile. They were still flying at 
a little before eight o'clock in the evening, when it was almost too 



1 8 So.] Zoology. 1 3 3 

dark to see them. The two following days were cold and stormy, 
but on the 5th a few were still straggling across the fields. 

On the evening of the 23d inst., while crossing Boston Com- 
mon, I saw what seemed to be a similar migration, and in this 
case also the course was west. — Bradford Torrcy. 

Trichodina parasitic on the gills of Necturus. — I 
have to record a new habitat for this interesting ectoparasitic 
genus of Infusoria. I was recently searching the gill-filaments 
of a Necturus (which had died a few hours before in the 
attempt to swallow a young catfish) for specimens of a Polystome 
which I have described as occurring there, when I noticed the 
remains of a considerable number of Infusoria belonging to this 
genus. Only the aboral end of the body with its hooks and 
chitinous frame remained, the softer oral end being already dis- 
integrated. I did not succeed in identifying it with T. pcdiadits, 
the ectoparasite of Hydra, which has been so admirably described 
by James-Clark (Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist, Vol. 1, No. 1), but 
it is possible that the examination of fresh specimens would prove 
it to belong to this species, which has also been indicated as 
occurring in the allantoid bladder of certain European newts 
(Busch, Muller's Archiv., 1855). 

Since writing the above I have had the opportunity of examining 
a fresh Necturus with the result that its Vorticellidan para- 
site also occurs in the urinary bladder. It is identical with the 
Hydra parasite, Trichodina 'pcdiculus. — A'. Ramsay Wright, Uni- 
versity College, Toronto. 

Zoological Notes.— The last number (3 of Vol. in, Part. 1) of 
the Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History contains 
an elaborate essay, by S. H. Scudder, on the palaeozoic cock- 
roaches, being a complete revision of the species of both worlds, 
with an essay towards their classification. This work of 1 1 1 
pages is illustrated by six excellent plates. It appears that the 
palaeozoic cockroaches are, like many other groups of animals of 
the palaeozoic age, old fashioned, obsolete forms which have been 
replaced by more modern types, and we may add that the exist- 
ing cockroaches are to be congratulated that the shades of iheir 
ancestors have been thus recalled from their tombs and passed in 
review in a long and orderly procession. Dr. Hagen is san- 
guine that noxious insects, such as the potato beetle, cotton 
worm and Rocky Mountain locust can be kept under, if not 
exterminated, by the use of yeast fungus : we hope that these 
fungi will take the place of Paris green as an insecticide, and 
trust another year to see experiments carried out upon an exten- 
sive scale ; we know that myriads of insects, such as the house 
"y. are killed by fungi ; why not myriads more, provided that the 
weather be sufficiently damp and warm for the growth of the 
lungus spores, a point not noticed by Dr. Hagen. In hot, dry 



134 General Notes. [February, 

weather the fungus would probably not have a deadly effect. 

The attention of our readers has never been called to Baron Osten 
Sacken's second edition of the Catalogue of the described Dip- 
tera of North America, published about a year since by the 
Smithsonian Institution. It is invaluable as a work, of reference. 

American students in foreign laboratories do work of as high 

an order as their German, French or English fellow students of 
the same schools. No better work in embryology has been done 
than that comprised in Mr. C. O. Whitman's essay on the embry- 
ology of the little leech, Clepsine. We now draw attention to 
the able paper of two recent Princeton graduates, Messrs. Scott and 
Osborn, who have worked up the early development of the com- 
mon European newt, published in the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 
scopic Science for July last, and now issued in pamphlet form. 

ANTHROPOLOGY. J 

Rau's Palenque Tablet.. — The latest contribution to know- 
ledge issued by the Smithsonian Institution, is No. 331 of its 
publications, a quarto of seventy-six pages, by Dr. Charles Rau, 
on the Palenque Tablet in the United States National Museum. 
The contents of the work are as follows : " Chapter 1.— History 
of the Palenque Tablet; Chapter 11. — Explorations of Palenque ; 
Chapter in.— The Temple of the Cross; Chapter 1 v.— The Group 
of the Cross ; Chapter v. — Aboriginal writing in Mexico, Yucatan 
and Central America ; Appendix. — Notes on the Ruins of Yuca- 
tan and Central America." In the first chapter we have a minute 
relation of the manner in which the tablet found its way from the 
Temple of the Cross to its present position in the National Mu- 
seum. In the second chapter Dr. Rau gives a narration of the 
various explorations of these interesting ruins. The name 
Palenque is derived from a village about eight miles away, called 
Santo Domingo del Palenque. The ruins were discovered in 
1750, by a party of Spaniards, and surveyed for the first time by 
order of Ramon de Ordonez in 1773-1784. The first explora- 
tion which lead to any result was that of Capt. Antonio del Rio 
in 1787; his manuscript was published in London, in 1822, with 
drawings from Castaiieda, the artist of Dupaix. Capt. William 
Dupaix, in 1808, visited Palenque, with an artist named Castafieda. 
The MSS. and drawings will be found in Vols, iv, v, vi, of Kings- 
borough. Baron de Waldeck lived two years at Palenque making 
surveys and sketches, 1832-4. His plates, with text by De Bour- 
bourg, was published in Paris, in 1866, by the French Govern- 
ment. 

When Dupaix visited Palenque the three slabs constituting the 
Group of the Cross were all in place. But at the time of Wal- 
deck's visit, the right one, now called the Smithsonian Tablet, 

1 Edited by Prof. Oris T. Mason, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. 



i88o.] Anthropology. 135 

was in fragments on the floor; the middle one had been carried 
off to the banks of the river by a vandal who wished to adorn 
his house with it ; and the one on the left was in its original 
position, which it now occupies. Stephens and Cathervvood 
visited the spot in 1840, and were entertained byTVlr. Charles Rus- 
sel, our counsel at Laguna. They made drawings of the ruins, 
and shortly after their visit the fragments of the right hand slab 
were sent to the National Institute in Washington, where it 
arrived in 1842. The site has since been visited by Arthur 
Morelet in 1846, and M. Desire Charnay, for the French Govern- 
ment, in 1857. The tablet was transferred to the Smithsonian 
Institution 1858, and in 1863, while making a cast for Prof. Henry, 
Dr. George A. Matile discovered that this was the missing slab 
from the Palenque group, not drawn by explorers after Dupaix. 
It was broken again after Dr. Matile'.s cast was made, but recon- 
structed and set in its present frame, from which Dr. Rau's pho- 
tograph was taken. Whatever doubt may have remained after 
Matile's argument, is iTow dispelled by reference to the outline 
plate of Dr. Rau's work, in which the whole Group of the Cross 

The occurrence of the sign of the cross in America anterior to 
its discovery by Columbus, has been the marvel of archaeologists. 
But the fact of its appearance in many places where Christian 
influence had never been felt, compelled the student to look for 
other motives in its existence. The whole subject is reviewed in 
Chapter iv, pp. 39-46. Of equal interest with the allegorical 
sculpture is the subjects of the hieroglyphics, 0:1 which Dr. Rau 
has bestowed a great deal of faithful study. The supposed key 
to their interpretation is a MSS. found in the Royal Library of 
Madrid, by Brasseur de Bourbourg, in 1863, which is a copy of 
one composed bv Diego de Landa, in 1579, and giving, among 
other things, an alphabet of thirty-three signs. It will be remem- 
bered that a similar old MSS. is mentioned by Sr. Orozcoy Berra, 
>n Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, containing the Lord's 
Grayer in symbols, partly Aztec and partly ecclesiastic. All 
attempts to interpret the Central American glyphs and manu- 
scripts by Landa's alphabet have proved failures. Dr. Rau, the 
m ost cautious of theorists, does not attempt a solution ; but on 
page 61 gives a diagram of his outline plate, by which every 
glvph on the tablet may be easily referred to (it is a pity that 
the letters and figures do not occur on the margin of the plate 
itself). On pages 62 and 63, some of the glyphs are analyzed, 
and the places where the elements are to be found, are indicated. 
Ahe author concludes that the analogies between Landa's signs 
■nd the glyphs warrant the suggestion that the inscriptions con- 
stitute a chronological record of some kind. On pages 53 and 
°4 Dr. Rau corrects an error of Humboldt, Kingsborough, 
Stephens, and others, as to the close relationship between the 



136 General Notes. [February, 

Aztecs and ancient Mayas based on the Dresden Codex, which is 
clearly shown to be of Maya and not of Mexican origin at all. 

On page 75 the author reaffirms the view of Stephens, Ban- 
croft, as well as his own, " that the Yucatan structures were built 
by the Mayas, tire direct ancestors of the people found on the 
peninsula at the Conquest, and of the present native population." 

Anthropological News. —Mr. H. R. Howland is the author 
of a brochure entitled " Primitive Arts and Modes of Life," the 
substance of which was read before the Buffalo Society of Natural 
Sciences, March 15, 1879. The object of the author is to show 
how, in simple beginnings, out of the dire needs of humanity, 
have been born the arts of life as known to civilized man ; how 
with patient toil he has wrought out, by means God-given, the 
problem of his growth and their advancement. 

A printed notice of four pages, announces the formation, in 
Boston, of the " Archaeological Institute of America," for the 
purpose of promoting and directing archaeological investigation 
and research, by sending out expeditions* for special researches, 
by aiding the efforts of independent explorers, by publication of 
reports of the results of expeditions which the institute may 
undertake or promote, and by any other means which may from 
time to time appear practicable. The institute consists of life 
members contributing at one time $100, and of annual members 
paying $10 per annum. Membership is now open to all persons 
interested in the objects of the institute, and who may desire to 
join it. The call is signed by Francis Parkman, W. W. Goodwin, 
Alexander Agassiz and other distinguished scholars. Prof. C. £. 
Norton is president, and Mr. Edward H. Greenleaf, Museum of ' 
Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., secretary, to whom all communications 
should be addressed. 

"The Aboriginal Soapstone Quarries in the District of Colum- 
bia " is the title of a brochure from the Twelfth Annual Report 
of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, by 
Elmer R. Reynolds. The discovery of the soapstone quarry at 
Chulu, Amelia county, Virginia, seems to have kindled a great deal 
of enthusiasm in our archaeologists with reference to aboriginal 
quarrying and mining. Dr. Reynolds is an indefatigable hunter, 
and his success in discovering soapstone quarries in the District 
of Columbia, almost under the shadow of the National Museum, 
is graphically described in the pamphlet before us. 

The Society of Biblical Archaeology has for its object the study 
of the languages, remains and natural history of those lands with 
which the Jews were associated, from the earliest times to the 
close of the canon of Scriptures, with a view to the better under- 
standing of the Old and New Testament. In point of fact the 
history of the Jewish race demands an intimate acquaintance with 
the civilizations of the Nile valley, Mesopotamia, the slopes of 
the Lebanon range, and, in latest Biblical times, of that of Greece 



i88o.] Anthropology. 137 

i president Dr. Samuel Birch, 
ny of the most distinguished 
men in England among its members. The honorable secretary 
for foreign correspondence is the Rev. A. H. Sayce. An 
acquaintance with its publications is indispensable to those who 
wish to pursue the study of Oriental archaeology. 

The first number of Vol. ix of "The Journal of the Anthropo- 
logical Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, August, 1879," 
contains the following papers: Exhibition of the cranium of a 
Native of one of Fiji islands, by Prof. Flower; The Primitive 
Human Family, by C. Staniland Wake; On an Echclle de 
Con/curs, published by the Societe Stenochromique of Paris, by 
\i. W. Brabrook ; Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of 
Games, by Edward B. Tylor ; On some Rock Carvings found in 
the neighborhood of Sydney, by Sir Charles Nicholson ; Rela- 
tionships and the names used for them among the peoples of 
Madagascar, chiefly the Hovas, together with observations upon 
marriage customs and morals among the Malagasy, by the Rev. 
James Sebree, Jr.; History of the South-western Barbarians and 
Chaou-Seen, translated from the " Tseen Man Shoo," book 95, by 
A. Wylie, Esq. ; Rag-Bushes and kindred observances, bv M. J. 
Walhouse (See " Fetish or Rag-Bushes in Madagascar," Saturday 

Mr. Wake's paper is a continuation of the author's discussion of 
a kindred subject in Vol. vm, of the Journal. After reviewing Mr. 
McLennan's theory of the origin of society in polyandry, he adds, 
" We cannot suppose that the primeval group of mankind con- 
sisted only of a woman and her children ; and if the woman had 
a male companion, we cannot doubt, judging from what we know 
of savage races, that he would be the head and chief of the group. 
* * * Self interest chiefly would govern the father in connec- 
tion with the marriage of his daughter. Whether the marriage 
was to be a permanent or a terminable engagement, he would 
stipulate that they should continue to live with or near him. and 
that her children should belong to him as the head of the family 
group. In this case, not only would the children form part of 
the family to which their mother belonged, but the husband him- 
self would become united to it, and would be required to labor 
for the benefit of his father-in-law. When the wife left her father's 
house to reside with her husband, he had to purchase the privi- 
lege by giving her father and other relatives handsome presents. 
II his could hardly have occurred at first, when property was not 
held in severalty. It marks a higher step in culture]. In this 
j^ 1 ' the children belonged to their father's family, and the tact of 

loss of the ch ' The 'presents may, 

therefore, be supposed to represent the price given by a man for 
his wife's offspring to her relatives. Probably the wide-spread 



138 General Notes. [February, 

custom of pretended forcible marriage was originally thus con- 
nected with the rights of the woman's relatives, and may have 
originated in the desire to obtain for nothing what could other- 
wise be acquired only by a purchase fee. 

These rights, according to Morgan, are inheritance of the prop- 
erty of deceased members, reciprocal obligations of help, defence, 
and redress of injuries, and the obligation not to marry in the 
gens, although practically, the property was appropriated by the 
nearest of kin. Morgan says nothing of any right of the gens 
over the marriage of its members,- and it would seem not to have 
had any voice in the matter. Reference to the custom of blood- 
revenge confirms the view that, for certain purposes, a smaller 
family group than the gens is recognized by the people having 
that organization. The example of the Polynesians, who are said 
not to have arisen to the conception of the gens, shows that before 
this was developed, not only was the lex talionis recognized, but 
the law of marriage and the rights of parents over their children 
were fully established. It is evident, therefore, that the primitive 
family cannot have originated with the gens, or clan ; on the con- 
trary, the clan was based on the family or group of kinsmen, 
which would be a parent, his wife or wives ; their daughters, 
together with the husband and children of the latter. 

The view of the ancient family held by De Coulange and Sir 
Henry Maine would be complete if it provided for the fact, that 
descent was originally traced bv the female line in preference to 
the male line. The defect thus revealed will be removed if it can be 

ogni/.ed eqiu ;h the female." ' Mr. Wake, in 

closing, draws attention to the important fact first noticed by Mr. 
Fiske, that owing to the prolongation of infancy children had to 
be nurtured by female parents aided by males to some extent; 
and to Mr. Spencer's remark that, " To the yearnings of natural 
affection are added in the earl}' stages of progress, certain motives, 
partly personal, partly social, which. h -lp to secure the lives of 
children; but which, at the same time initiate differences of status 
between children of different sexes. There is the desire to 
strengthen the tribe in war ; there is the wish to have a future 
avenger on individual enemies ; there is the anxiety to leave 
behind one who will perform the funeral rites." Under the influ- 
ence of these various ideas and circumstances, the custom of 
tracing kinship for certain purposes m the female line would be 
developed by the time that the habit had been formed of wives 
leaving their parents to reside among the husband's family. 
When this took place the custom would be fully established under 
the influence of polygamy, and the development of the gentile 
organization would almost necessarily follow. The primitive idea 
of kinship through the father would, however, still remain in full 
force with the attributes which originally appertained to it, 



i88o.J Geology and Palaeontology. 139 

namely, the headship in the family group of the oldest male 
ancestor, whose authority is practically represented by the tribe, 
and the non-intermarriage of those thus connected. 

GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 

The Water Sheds of the State of New York.— The State 
of New York presents two of the most remarkable water-sheds 
on the North American continent, if not on the face of the globe. 
Though situated so near one another that their extremities may 
be said to almost interlock, they are widely different in their 
physical features and distribution of water supply. One has been 
made the mighty servant of man and is harnessed for his bidding, 
while the other bids defiance, gushing forth its waters at its will, 
sometimes flooding a vast area of territory, and again leaving its 
river-beds to dry in the sun. 

The most powerful of these is drained by the Oswego river. 

ritory. It comprises the well-known chain of lakes, some of 
which are of considerable size and importance — the Oneida, 
Cayuga, Seneca, etc., amounting to over four hundred square 
miles of lake surface. Besides being in themselves natural reser- 
voirs, the State has further improved Seneca lake so as to regu- 
late the periodical flow of the water. The average flow of the 
water is thus secured at about 600,000 cubic feet per minute. 
Twenty miles above the mouth of the Oswego river is Three 
River Point. From this place, down stream, there is a fall of 
water amounting to seventy-five feet. This space is taken up by 
seven dams erected and maintained by the State. Of these, two 
are situated at Oswego, covering a fall of forty feet. These dams 
accord hydraulic privileges equal to 25,000 horse power. But a 
moderate outlay is required to keep the flow in the river near the 
average,for the year. 75,000 cubic feet of this water supply are 
in actual use in Oswego, where a canal is provided for the recep- 
tion which furnishes fifty runs of first class water and over seven- 
teen of the second class. 

Two dams are situated at Fulton with 20,000 horse power. At 
this point the water privileges are easiest available, although 
Oswego has the greater representation of industries. 

The Oswego River water shed produces clear cold water, which 
is perfectly under control of man, no matter what the circum- 
stances or exigences. The river bank forms a line teeming with 
industries, with millions of dollars of money invested. This 
water supply never endangers the lives of citizens or encroaches 
on their property, but on the contrary, affords a roadway for 
inland navigation through the canals which it feeds. 

Not so the other subject of this paper. Situated on the highest 
Point in New York, among the Adirondacks, it submits to no 
governmental check, but ejects its turbid waters, dashing down 



General Notes. [February, 



This water shed covers an area of 2000 square miles. It com- 
prises not less than five hundred little lakes and lakelets, some of 
which are said to be as large as Cayuga. 4326 feet above the 
sea level a little lake known as " Tear of the Clouds " starts the 
Hudson marching onward to the sea. 

Here also rise the Moose, Beaver, Oswegatchie, Gross, Ra- 
quette, St. Regis, Salmon, Au Sable, Bouquet rivers and many 
other streams. Could the streams have a uniform flow during 
the year, the volume of water emitted would be enormous for 
economic use. But though violent in time of flood they are 
quite low, not to say often nearly dry, in summer time. 

Strange as it may seem, these rivers are scarcely of use as 
bearing rich deposits for the low land, like the Mississippi, Mis- 
souri, etc. The region from whence they emanate is peculiarly 
hostile to cultivation, and has resented all attempts at settlement 
and immigration, and gives no return for the careful sowing of 

The waters afford few privileges of navigation to the hewer of 
timber or the excavator of ores in the mountains. They form, 
however, the fishing ground of America, and yield an abundance 
of the best of the finny tribe. Its mission in futurity is now fore- 
told as the solving of the problem of water supply to fifty mil- 
lions of people who may possibly inhabit the Mohawk valley. 
For the present it is to gratify the pleasurable longings of man- 
kind. The Empire State has, therefore, two grand water sheds, 
the one for the accumulation of untold wealth and the other 
for its dissipation. But what is an Empire without unlimited 
resources?— W. H. Ballon} 

Geological Survey of New Zealand. — Dr. Hector's Progress 
Report for 1878-9, contains a synopsis of the classification of 
the formations of New Zealand, of which we present a summary: 
1. Post-tertiary, including Moa beds, Alluvia and Raised beaches, 
Moraines, etc. 2. Pliocene, 1500 feet, with three divisions, Ter- 
race plains, Pumice sands and Lignites, Kereru Rotella beds, 
etc. 3. Upper Miocene, 500 to 1000 feet, including Wanganani 
beds, Manawatu gorge, Castlepoint, Toerua and Ross, and Waito- 
tara and Awatere beds. In this formation 125 species of Mol- 
lusca have been found, of which 120 are found in the existing 
seas. 4. Lower Miocene, 1000 to 1500 feet, containing 1 10 
extinct marine forms and 55 existing speciesj divisions two, 
Mangapokeha valley and the Taipo Awainoa and Pareora beds. 
5. Upper Eocene, 500 to 700 feet, with three divisions, Mount 



i88o.] Geology and Palceontology. 141 

Brown beds, Hutchinson's Quarry beds and Nummulitic beds. 
Intense volcanic activity prevailed during this period in both 
islands, and the calcareous strata are frequently interbedded with 
contemporaneous igneous rocks and tufas, and in the North 
Island are often replaced by wide-spread trachyte floes and vol- 
canic breccias. 6. Cretaceo-tertiary, 2000 to 5000 feet, with seven 
divisions, Gray marls, Ototara and Weka Pass stone, Fucoidal 
greensands, Amuri limestone, Chalk marls and chalk with flints, 
Marly greensands, Island sandstone (Reptilian beds) and black 

marked greensand forms such as Aiicvloccras, Bclcinnitts and 
Rostdlaria, a number that have still a marked affinity to the Ter- 
tiary fauna. Saurian bones occur of the genera Plisiosaiirus, 
MdNisaunis, Liodou, &c, in this part of the formation ; but they 
have only been found as yet over a limited area on the east side 
of the South Island. 7. Lower Greensand, 500 feet, with two 

coast. 8. Jurassic, 3000 to 5000 feet, with three divisions, 

Hill series, wlii. li L pi m ;.-Jh d. \, loped in the I lokanui range, 

Southland, contains fossil plants in its upper beds, which are 



with a plant found in tl 


ie kamahal beds of ' India, which are con- 


sidered to be of Lias? 


;ic age, viz: Macr.^vnioptcris lain, with 


which several others ar< 


■ associated, six of which' have been iden- 


tified. 9. Lias, 2000 f 


sct, with one division, Catlin's river and 


Bastion series. ' 10. Tri 


as, 5000 to 8oco feet, with three divisions, 




erics and Oreti series. The Otapiri series 


is remarkable' for the n 


lixed character of its fossils, which, how- 


ever, contain many torn 


is identical with those from the R luetic 




.-an Alps. The fossils are chiefly Permian 






the Jurassic species. I, 


[. Permian, 6600 to 7000 with one division, 


the Kaihiku scries. 12 


. Lower Carboniferous and Upper Dcvon- 


ian, 7000 to 10,000 feet, 


with two divisions, Maitai series and Te 




er Devonian, =;ooo feet, with one ilivision, 


the Rcefton beds.' 14. 


Upper Silurian, 3000 feet, with the Baton 


River series 15. Lov 


ret Silurian, 7000 to 10,000, with one 


division, Mount Arthur 


series. Below this horizon the quartzite 


and gneissic granite are 


: found in the mountain ranges. 



142 General Notes. [February, 

Lacertilia and snakes, some of the latter Crotalidce, as indicated by 
the characteristic maxillary bone, with its teeth. Specimens of 
Proccrvulus furcatus with a burr on the horn, show that this spe- 
cies did not differ from P. nccatus in this respect ; also that the P. 
ramosus is distinct from it as a species. In Nebraska Mr. Hill 
found the Ticholeptus beds containing LcptaucliLina, etc., occupy- 
ing the place between the White River and Loup Fork forma- 
tions already assigned them. 

Hulke on Ornithopsis of Seeley. — In the last Quarterly 
Journal of the Geological Society for 1879, Dr. J. W. Hulke dis- 
cusses the characters of the huge Saurian named Ornithopsis hulkci 
by Seeley. He identifies with it the Chondrostcosaurus of Owen and 
the Eucamerotm of Hulke, but regards the American Camara- 
saurus as distinct. He figures a centrum remarkable for the 
extent of its lateral excavations, and of more elongate form than 
the corresponding ones of Camarasaiirus. He points out the 
existence of the hyposphen in Ceteosaurus oxoniensis and in 3Pg- 
alosaurus as figured by Phillips, using for it the term zygosphen, 
which is, however, homologically a different structure. 

FruioL on the Fauna of St. Gerand le Puv.— The region of 
the Allier, Puy de Dome and Haut Loire, has for years furnished 
beautiful specimens of extinct vertebrates to the geologists of 
France, beginning with the time of Cuvier and De Blainville. 
Dr. Filhol has recently reviewed the work hitherto done in this 
field, and with the aid of much new material, which includes that 
obtained by Dr. Alphonse .Milne Fdwards, has commenced the 
publication of a detailed monograph. The first part, issued in the 
Annates des Sciences Geologiques, contains descriptions and i\g- 

Rodaitia, twenty-six ,,f (aniivora, and five <>f Artiodactyla. The 
elucidation of this fauna is of interest to American palaeontolo- 
gists, since it corresponds approximately in time with the Truckee or 
Oregon division of our White River fauna. The faunal differences 
i the resemblances. In France Canida abound, 



but thev ai 


e mo 


■' ] y 


AmrJun 


„ /Will(1 


t(;, /;/ ,, 


lor other genera f 


.>und 


in Oregon. 


\\\ 






ch moi 








There is a 






.litv betw. 






nus Protdurus am 




Arclncluru. 
he thr.'us 


v. th.» 


■:^ 


1 the two 

The An 

them n|'| 

tions of s 


nweh'^ 


•la are 


Other forms of E 
Genotluna, whicl 
fullness of M. Fil 
science, and the 


elida 


We can on 






that he co 


uld 0.1 


lsult eu 


phony more frequcntly 


in the com 


.tructi 


<-n 


of new g 


en eric 


names. 






Notes ( 


>N Si 


IBB 


E-TOOTHS. 


—The 


large s 




w the 


December 




)er 


of this Jo. 


irnal .1 


s I'toHophoneus platycohis 


turns 


out to belong tc 




new genus, which has a 


. premolar tooth ; 


tddi- 



Geography and Travels. 
usual in sabre-tooths. It 



Dime lis. The 



^'" 



Nearly the smallest of the Oregon sabre-tooths is probably 
undescribed. It is represented by the greater part of a skull with 
parts of all the teeth of one side. ' Its brain case is relatively large. 
and the sagittal crest small ; the occiput is wide and vertical. Post- 
orbital process robust and prominent; mastoid and glenoid pro- 
cesses elongate. There is but one, a small premolar in front of the 
sectorial, and it has a very promineilt heel. The sectorial has a 
prominent anterior lobe, showing that the species is probably a 
true Maelucrodus. The tubercular is very small. The canines 
arc relatively very large; their crowns are not preserved. The 
front is slightly protuberant on each side of the middle line and 
then descends steeply to the orbit; sagittal crest horizontal. 
Length of cranium (axial) M. 0.120; from muzzle to orbit 
.045; vertical diameter of orbit .025. Long diameter of canine 
•015 ; length of diastema .01 1 ; of premolar .006 ; of sectorial .015 ; 
width between posterior external angles of sectorials .056. The 
species may be called Maelucrodus centralis.— £. D. Cope. 

GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS. 1 

African Exploration. — The Henry Venn, a steamer belonging 

to the English Church Missionary Society, started from Lukoja, at 
the mouth of the Benue, on July 8, 1879,10 ascend that stream as 

tion of the river Gambia, made by Mr. Frederic Speer, in the 
course of which he penetrated higher up the stream than any 
European had ever done before. Though unable to take obser- 
vations, he has taken compass bearings and laid down the upper 
course of the stream with considerable accuracy, lie thinks 
British traders would be able without much difficulty to establish 
a valuable trade with Timbuktu and the upper Niger. A similar 
report is made from the upper Vblta, which was visited recently by 
M. Buss, a missionary, who met with a friendly reception at Salaga, 
the chief town of that region, containing about 50,000 inhabi- 



ts of the region traversed by 
■"' of hitherto unknown count rv 



Ka-.-i: 



between about I 
>ich is under the rule of the famous Mwata Yanvo. He hi 
■ some important discoveries concerning the intricate hydn 
'ted by Ei.t.is H. Yaknall, Philadelphia. 



144 General Notes. [February, 

graphy of the Congo watershed. He met with four tributaries to 
that river lying between the Kwango and the Kassai, viz., the 
Kwango, Marata, Cinlu and the Kwanger rivers. He has laid 
down the Kassai from 8° S. lat, to about 6° S. lat, but was 
stopped by king Mai, when within two days of the great water- 
falls on that stream. The Kassai is known as the Zaire from 8° 
S. as far as 4 S. Mucarouba is the native name for the lake 
heretofore called Sankowa, and it is situated in about lat 5 S 
A tribe of dwarfs live neai it.— -Th fon r < ,1 panions of Maj.' 
Serpa Pinto, Messrs. Ivens and Capello when last heard from 
were in the district called Duquc do Rraganza, unable to proceed 
further in their attempt to trace the Kwango down to its junction 
with the Congo for want of means. The Portuguese government 
has been asked to aid them. A mission station has been estab- 
lished by a French priest, Pere Duparquet, in Ovampoland, a 
tract of country south of the river Cunene, between 14° and 18 

E.long. Dr. Emil Holub has recently returned to Europe after 

seven years passed in Southern Africa. Born in Bohemia in 
1847, he very early manifested great interest in natural history 
and geography and especially in African exploration. After re- 
ceiving the degree of M. D. at Prague, in 1872, he started for 
Africa with a total capital of £53. He succeeded in teaching the 
South African diamond-fields and supported hin self and earned 
sufficient to pay the expenses of his three journeys by his medi- 
cal practice there. He has explored the country north and south 
of the Zambesi and studied the habits of the Matabele, the Ma- 
rutsi, Hottentots. Bechuanas and numerous other tribes, living 

ing their sick! His Ia^t j . irn \ 'tZ% ' ,u , t 'niiport'ant, lasting 






owing to the loss of hi; 
and the bearings had t 
three hundred yards, w 
surveys to over 2,000 1 



1 88a] Geography and Travels. 145 

received by the governor and the public. He has also received 
a medal from the Vienna Geographical Society, and many dis- 

esting notice published in the Atheiucum (October 4, 1879,) Col. 
Yultes states that Dr. Holub has brought with him, besides a 

fruits, fishes, bird skins, nests and eggs, reptiles and insects, includ- 
ing some thousands of beetles, horns and skins of mammals, 
anatomical preparations, a large collection of ethnographic 
objects and a number of the famous "Bushmen engravings" 
on stone, etc. There are, besides in Prague, fiftv-six cases 
containing the fruits of the earlier journevs. There are' also exten- 
sive topographical sketches, several hundred drawings of botanical, 
zoological and ethnological interest. Dr. Holub hopes to obtain 
funds in Europe to form an international expedition of twelve 
members from as many different nations for the special purpose of 
opening Central Africa towards the south and east, and to facili- 
tate the colonization of the district between the Vaal river and the 

Zambesi. The Royal Geographical Societv has received a letter 

from Mr. Thomson in command of the expedition to Lake Nvassa 
dated August 30th, at Mkubwa,anva, in Cliche, a tract of country 
north of the Kondi mountains, at aft elevation of 6000 or 7000 

■ The London Mi A another of it. mem- 



hers by death at Liiji. the Rev. 


A. W. Dodgshun. 


which left Zanzibar under the 


leadership of the la 


had reached Mirambo's capita 


.1, in Unvamwezi, i 


going from Mpwapwa by a m 


:\v and unexplore< 






fl 'om Ouillimane to Lake \'v; 


lssa . .Th e Indiai 


«>"tb) tli km ,,,;;], 15 \ A . , M . i 




health except \,ne which' died 


shortly after arrivit 


Repliant carried about t -n him- 




the tsetze flies abound the an 




without feeling anv the worse 


for it. They are- 


used at first tor catching and t 


raining African elc 




ing a colony at Z\ 


from Tete, and the gowrnnn n 




company formed for ih 


sc— The first" Be 


Wis expected to roach Tangan 


vika towards the c 



Hie second expedition under M- Pop 
establish its station on the eastern shore 
a bay some little distance south of Ujiji. 



146 General Notes. [February, 

Mpwapwa on August 1 5th last, and expected to commence the jour- 
ney across Ugogo on September 3rd. Mr. Stanley left Sierra Leone 
on September 3rd, for Banana (Banza?) on the Congo. Accord- 
ing to the Academy King Mtsesa has recently showed himself 
less friendly to the'Missionaries of the English Church Mission, 
accusing them of complicity with the Egyptians. The Mission- 
aries have been reinforced bv the arrival of three more by way of 
the Nile via Magungo and the Albert Nyanza, and of two others by 

the lake from Kagei at the southern extremity. Menelek, king 

of Shoa, has written to the Geographical Society of Paris urging 
the sending out of a French Mission, promising to employ all his 
power on their behalf. The Sultan of Somali land, on the western 
coast of the Gulf of Aden, has also invited foreigners to visit his 

dominions. Gessi Pacha has succeeded in capturing the last 

refuge of the slave traders in the Soudan. Over 4000 have been 
expelled from the country and twenty-five slave caravans of 
between three and four hundred slaves each have been captured. 

Dr. Wilhelm Junker has returned recently to Europe after 

three years spent in explorations on the upper Nile. Dr. Schwein- 
furth writes to the Athenaum (August 23, 1879.) giving an account 
of his travels, illustrated by a small map of the Welle basin. Dr. 
Junker has brought back with him and given to the Russian Acad- 
emy of Sciences the largest and best ethnological collection yet 
obtained in these regions. His careful surveys throw a flood of 
light upon the water shed separating the Nile from the Welle, and 
present a basis for mapping an area of four square degrees. Pie 
has also made a survey of the lower Sobat. The results of his 
investigations in the district lying between the Welle river and 
the Ba'hrel Gha/el are given in much detail, and the corrections 
necessary in Schweinfurth's own itinerary indicated. Dr. Junker 
reached his furthest point in lat. 20 30' N., where at a distance of 



MICROSCOPY. 1 
Thin Glass Slide Troughs. — These are made of glass slips, 
three inches by one and one-third inches, to which are cemented 
slips of thin glass two inches by one inch, out of which a semi- 
circle of three-quarters of an inch radius has been cut, and then 
covered with another thin glass two inches bv one inch. It is 
well to have an assortment of these, of different thicknesses or 

make the distance-plate's of vulcanite instead of glass. These 
troughs should always be washed out directly after use. 

Preparations of Crystals for the Polariscope. — After pre- 
paring crystals, dry, in Canada balsam, and in castor oil, it 

1 This department is edited by Dr. R. H. Ward, Troy, N. Y. 



i88o.] Microscopy. 147 

occurred to me to attempt to preserve them in their own mother 
liquor. To do this paint on a slide a thin ring of gold size, whose 
entire diameter shall equal that of the cover -lass. To make the 
edges of the ring smooth and true hold the flat edge of a small 

chisel against them at the points indicated by the straight Sines in 
the figure, whirling the turn-table in the din 
indicated by the arrow. As s 
finished heat it (wer the flame 




salycine, tartaric acid, prussiate of potash, or 
other substance adapted for examination with the 
polariscope, add water and apply heat until the 
solution is of such strength that crystals will form in it only when 
quite cold. Coat the ring, already hardened, with a little fresh 
size, and likewise the edge of the cover glass. Put the slide and 
cover glass thus prepared, on the hot plate for a few minutes and 
then pour a few drops of the boiling solution from the test tube 
into the cell and apply the cover glass, immediately pressing it 
down gently with a dry cloth which will absorb the superfluous 
liquid. Touch the edge of the cover glass with gold size and 
then transfer to the turn-table and finish. If the above directions 
have been followed correctly the cell will contain a clear liquid 
which begins to deposit crystals as it cools. Transfer the slide to 



Without the aid of the polariscope it is 'of interest, bu 


t with that 


accessorv the spectacle presented is exceedingly beaut: 


[fill. 


After standing for some time however, the crystals 




lose their sharpness and perfection of form. They 11 


lav be re- 


•stored by a fresh application of heat sufficient to cause t 


hem to dis- 


soke and enter upon new forms of combination. As 


a means of 


observing the process of ervstalli/.ation this method ap] 


oears to be 


the best, and many of the 'results as respects brilliam 


:y of color 



and perfection of outline are unsurpassed. I would 
however, that those who have not tried it, should mal 
ately strong solution of salycine or tartaric acid in b( 
and pour it over a warmed slide, draining off the grea 
'^'diately. When crystallization ceases put a drop 

usual way. Having once 'learned these processes, t 
'""'t to the ran.Vof experiments that may- be mac 



Scientific News. [February, 

Foraminifera from sand. — If you throw dried 
ito water, slowly, all the foraminifers will sink, and 
A slide dipped under the floating film 
of grains will bring up only sand. You can safely skim off and 
throw away all that docs not sink with a little stirring. Then the 
sunken part should be dipped out, about a dessert-spoonful at a 

them put in, and all floating grains stirred down. Then by a cir- 
cling movement of the hand the foraminifers will be got to the top, 
and by gradually tipping the saucer and slowing up the movement 
they can be worked to one edge of the little pile of sand, and 
thence carefully dipped up with a rubber bulb pipette. In this 
way they are got almost pure. Only a little sand must be washed 
at a time, or not all the foraminifers will be got out, and very little 
water must be used or sand will get mixed with them. Much 
water moves the light sand, but a shallow wave seems not to stir 
it, but yet rolls the shells along — C. M. Vorce. 

Naturalists' Directory.— The Naturalists' Directory for 1879, 
recently published by S. E. Cassino, at Salem, Mass., contains by 
far the best register of American microscopists yet published. It 
will be found especially useful to the microscopists who desire to 
arrange for exchanges in different parts of the country. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 

— Recent arrivals at Zoological Garden, of Philadelphia : 1 
sandhill crane {Grits americana)- 2 cheetahs {Fe/is jubata) A ? 
Africa; I sun bear {Helarctos euryspilus) Borneo; I Chacma 
baboon {Cynocephalus porcarius) ; 2 electrical eels {Gymnotus 
dectricits) and 2 red-erected cardinals \Faroana cucullatd) South 
America; 3 mule c\^x{Cennts macroFis) and I fallow deer {Duma 
vittgitris) Europe, bred in the garden; 7 mandarin ducks {Aix 
galcriculatd), China; 1 rose-crested cockatoo ( Cacatna moliteceiisis) ; 
78 finches, of the following species: Amadina fasciata, A. bicolor, 
Mania undulata, M maja, M. aattuauda, M. malacca, Eshclda 
amandava and E. mdpoda ; 2 American elk {Cerviis canadensis) 
and 2 Virginia d er ( Cervus :'ir^j/ian//s)Aa d in the garden; I 
Marabou stork iLcptoptilus crumcniferu^W^ Africa; 2 black- 

iGa/a^ ,< , ,, J ■ j-.a-t Africa iDucrp, o> katoo (/ 7 ntita 

i ( u, atua *i,>p!;tn n, Alol u ,,'i-, I u hit.- g, An iu k \ Aslin novte-. 
hollandiie, Australia; 2 h\ 1. inthin p . phyrios (Forphyrio hyaciu- 

,,/;,*' 1^1 i<d p e'earies (Di- 

eoty/es torqitatus); 5 woodchuck- and 27 com- 



1 8 So.] Scientific News. 149 

mon opossums (Didclplivs vinrinianns), bred in the garden; 32 
Amblvstoma mavortinm and 10 of the siredon form of that species 
from Wyoming; 2 sand toads {Bufo vulgaris), England ; 1 buffalo 
(Bison americamis), ? bred in the garden ; I black ape {Cynopitliecns 
niger •), Phillipine islands; 1 moor macaque {Macacns man r us), 
Borneo (?) ; 2 ashy-black macaques {Afaeacns ocreatus), Celebes ( ?) ; 
1 African python {Python se/uc); 1 Kgvptian cobra (Nam haje); 
1 clapper rail {Rallns lomrirostns). Now Jersey; 1 horned lizard 
[Plirynosoma donglassi); I rufous rat kangaroo (llrpsiprynniiis 
rnfescens), and 27 water snakes {Tropidonotns fasciatns), born in 
the garden; 1 rattlesnake (Croialus atrox)?; parasitic jaeger gull 
{Staroranns parasiticus). North Atlantic; 1 great kangaroo (Ala- 
cropiis yiyantens) ; 15 banded rattlesnakes {Crotalns liom'dns), and 
5 water moccasins (Ancistrodon ptscimrns), born in the garden; 
I booby gannet {Sn /a fiber), captured off Cape Henlopen ; 2 com- 

satyms), 9 Borneo ; I 1) u,i n mk i C rcofitf. s d. v:a . \frica ; 
I saddle-billed stork {Xcimrhvnchns sencgalensis). West Africa; I 
tapir {Ta pirns tcrrcstris) 9 ; 4 Yarrell's curassows {Crax camen- 
iata); 4 razor-billed curassows {Mitua tuberosa); 1 red-breasted 
swan {Penelope pileata), and 18 boas {Boa constrictor), South 
America; i eland {Oreas camia). Africa, and 2 black wolves {Cams 
l'tpns ater), received in exchange; I hog-nosed snake (Hc/er- 
odon simns nasn A and 1 rattlesnake [Croud < confinentns) Col- 
orado; 1 soft-shelled turtle {Aspidoncctcs, *y>. }); 1 Javan chevro- 
tem{Tragnlnsjavauiens), 9 bred in the garden ; 2 hawks {Bnteo, 
sp. ?), Colorado. 

— It will appear by the foil,. wing note from Prof. Bi'rgc that we 
were in error as to the completeness of the series of Bronn's 
Klassen und Ordnungen. 

. " Your reviewer has apparently fallen into some errors respect- 
ing Bronn's Klassen und ( )rdnungen. The work is not yet ' draw- 
ing to a close.' The Amphibia are the onlv class of Vertebrates 
completed; the fishes and reptiles onlv just begun, while twenty- 
two parts have only partly finished the osteology of mammals. 

"The six parts on birds, treating of osteology ami part of the 



150 Scientific News. [February, 

— Prof. K. Ellsworth Call and Mr. Arthur F. Gray are now 
engaged upon a Monograph of North American Unior.id<c, and 
desire to make their work complete as regards synonomy. For 
this purpose they desire shells from all parts of the United States, 
Mexico and Canada, for purposes of comparison. The shells of 
the Complanatus group are now desired. Liberal exchanges will 
be given, or shells (typical) purchased. Parties collecting speci- 
mens with soft parts, please address Prof. K. Ellsworth Call, 
Normal and Scientific School, Dexter, Iowa, or Arthur F. Gray, 
Danversport, Mass. Information with regard to peculiar forms 
and interesting localities will be duly acknowledged. Where 
possible, preserve the animal. 

— The Scientific American for Dec. 27th, contains an article by 
D. C. Beard, who accounts for the sea-serpent by supposing it to 
be the gigantic squid which are known to inhabit the coasts of New 
Foundland and the high seas. We are not sure but that this is a 
plausible explanation, and expressed seven or eight years ago, in 
a communication to the Essex Institute of Salem, that the appear- 
ances referred to the " sea serpent " were, perhaps, occasioned by 
wounded or tired squid of colossal size, such as are known to exist 
in the oceans in both hemispheres. The barrel-shaped head, 
large eyes and trailing, undulating body, attributed to the " sea- 
serpent" can be explained as depicted in the Seu ntific American. — 
A. S. Packard, Jr. - 

— Second Session of the Chesapeake Zoological Laboratory.— 
A brief report of the work done in this Laboratory has appeared, 
from which we learn that twelve were present. Dr. Clarke investi- 
gated the Hydroids, Prof. Brige the development of two species of 
crabs, Miss Munn the development of the Ctenophora.% Mr. Wilson 
verified the observations of previous writers in regard to the change 
of Actinotrocha into Phoronis, while Dr. Brooks studied the devel- 
opment of the squid and oyster and ascertained the existence of 
a rudimentary velum in the Cephalopoda. A brief abstract of his 
studies on the oyster has already appeared in the columns of the 
American Journal of Science and arts.— J. S. K. 

— The report of the curator of the Harvard University Mu- 
seum of Zoology, where geology is also taught, shows that facili- 
ties are extended to those desirous of studying lithology. The 
instruction given by Mr. M. E. Wadsworth during the past year, 
consisted of lectures upon the macroscopic and microscopic char- 
acters of the rocks and their constituent minerals, and also of 
field and laboratory work. Besides the stu.lv of the laboratory 
collections, each student had assigned to him a separate district, 
which he was to map, stu.h ing the characters and relations of the 
rocks, and collecting the necessary specimens. Of the rocks thus 
collected, the student was required to make thin sections and to 
examine them microscopically, writing a thesis upon the whole 
work. It was intended that the course should be sufficiently thor- 
ough to fit the student for practical field and laboratory research. 



1 83o.] Scientific News. 151 

— Professor Geikie opened his course of lectures to his class in 
the University of Edinburgh, November 10th, with a very inter- 
esting account of his recent explorations in our Western Terri- 
tories, a full summary of which appears in Nature of Novem- 
ber 20th. He described his visit to the Yellowstone park, the 
Uinta mountains and other portions. His remarks on the evi- 
dences of glaciation and the superficial deposits of the West 
were excellent. He is now preparing an elaborate paper on the 
glacial phenomena which he observed, which he will offer for 
publication to some society or journal in this country. 

— The committee of the Philadelphia Park Commission, ap- 
pointed for the purpose, recently held a conference with the com- 
mittee of the Permanent Exhibition Company. The former, after 
consideration, resolved to recommend to the commission that the 
order for the removal of the Permanent Exposition be revoked, on 
condition that the Permanent Exposition Company raise the sum of 
$100,000 as a working capital, and agree to conform to the terms 
of their lease. It is to be hoped that the commission will act on 
the report of the committee, and give the Permanent Exposition 
the opportunity to show what it can become. 

— Biologia Centrali-Americana. Messrs. Dulau and Co. have 
commenced a splendid work under the above title, on the animals 
and plants of Mexico and Central America. It is edited by 
Messrs. F. I). Godman and Osbert Salvin, who have been collect- 



main . 


airpartare'sai 


. The color 

d to be of rei 


ed plate, 
nark-able ' 




ness to nature. 








— A 


mong the nan* 


es of recc 


ntly 


deceased 


names 


of Dr. F. Chapuis, the \i 


.-oil 


known B 


who ,11, 


-d at Yerviers, 


Sept. 20th ; 


the dipter 


died at 

Hereto 


Parma, Sept il 


3; and T 


. Ch 


v'if'gu 


his p ;i p 


ers on the cot 




anatomy 




London. He 






ralist of n 


death < 


i the French 2 


tuthor, Je 


an t 


diaries Ch 












— Prof. J. D. Dana 


is about 


to i 


ssue a nei 


valuabl 


e Manual of ( 




Th 






and enlarged 


and the 1 






of the 




his time 








for 






ater portion of 




— T 


he Royal Muse 


:um of Lt 


■ider 


i, as repor 


.^'1. tli- 








zoning du 




0,000 birds, 25 


120 skele 




, and 430c 


collecU 


>r in Madagasc; 


ir and tw 


in 


West Afr 



Or. H. Schle 
7900 mam 



152 Proc. ofSci. Socs. and Selected Articles in Set. Serials. [Feb., '8o. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 

New York Academy of Sciences, Dec. 15.— Mr. Isaac N. 
Merritt read a description of the remarkable ncwly-discoved Luray 
caverns, Page county, Virginia (with illustrative specimens). 

Jan. 5. — Prof. H. C Bolton remarked on the application of 
organic acids to the examination of minerals (second paper). 

Boston Society of Natural History, Dec. 17, 1879.— Mr. F - 
YV. Putnam remarked on Conventionalism in Ancient American 
Art, illustrated by specimens of pottery from the Peabody Mu- 
seum of American Archaeology and Ethnology. 

Jan. 7. — Mr. J. S. Diller read a paper on the Felsites and their 
associated rocks north of Boston. Mr. W. O. Crosby remarked 
on distorted pebbles in conglomerates, and Mr. F. W. Putnam 
read a short account of the largest mound in the United States. 



SELECTED ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

American Iocrnal of SCIENCE, Jan. 1S80.— New forms of fossil 
Crustaceans from the Upper Devonian rocks of Ohio, by R. P. 
Whitfield [describes certain Devonian Phyllocarida under the name 
of Echinocaris 'new genus), and a Devonian Decapod Crustacean 
with the name of PaLeopahemon inwhcrryi, this being the oldest 
genuine Decapod Crustacean yet known). Xew characters of 
Mosasauroid Reptiles, by O. C. Marsh. 

Siebold's und Kolliker's Zeitsciirift fir wissenschaft- 
liciie Zoologie, December 12. — Studies on the organization and 
development of the Chalinid Sponges, by C Keller. Structures of 
the Laemipoda, by G. Haller. On the morphology of the pelvic 
and shoulder-girdles of the bony fishes, by Olga Metschnikoll 
On some octoradiate silicious sponges, and on the development of 
their buds, by E. Selenka. 

Jenaische Zeitschrift fur Naturwtssenschaft, Nov. 30, 
1879.— O. and R. Hertwig continue their beautiful studies on the 
anatomy and histology of the Actiniae. 

The Geological Magazine, Dec. 1879.— On the Parallel Roads 
of Glen Roy, by J. R. Dakyns. 

Journal of the Queckett Microscopical Club, Nov. 1879. 
—On a method of resolving diatom tests, by A. Schulze. Oft 
the anatomy of Actinia mesembryanthemum, by F. A. Bedwell. 
On staining sections of animal tissues, by J. W. Groves (a very 
useful paper). On some improvements in microscopical turn- 
tables, by C S. Rolfe. 



THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xiv. — MARCH, 1 880. — No. 3. 
THE PROBOSCIS OF THE HOUSE-FLY. 

BY PROF. G. MACLOSKIE, LL.D. 

THE common house-fly of Europe (Musca domestic* L.) prob- 
* A ably includes the American as well as the old-world forms. 1 
Its proboscis has attracted much attention and been the subject of 



much misapprehension. I have recently been fortunate enough 
to find out several important points about the mechanism of this 
organ and the homologies of its parts. 



The Proboscis of the Ifouse-j 



[March, 



154 

Its Structure. — The proboscis consists of three divisions— base, 
nid segment and tip. The base, or proximal division, contains : 

1. A large framework of hard dark-colored chitin (/in Fig. 1, 
A and B, represented in 
the margin as spread out). 
This has been termed the 
pharynx, or fulcrum, by 
Lowne. 1 In the natural 
position this fulcrum is a 
narrow box, open at both 




iUMi 



i sending pro- 
es backwards and for- 
wards. The distal part of 
its roof is left open so as 
to receive the mid segment 
in flexion. One of Lowne's 
^fch^C^lmeetlo^ terms for it: {pharynx) is 

case surrounding the phar- 
ynx. I shall refer to it by the name fulcrum. 

2. Two palps (/ in Fig. 1, A and B) not jointed, but borne on a 
weak cross-piece of chitin. (The blow-fly has stronger supporting 
bars, and palps longer and more slender.) 

3. A transparent funnel-shaped sheath widening towards the 
head, surrounds the basal division. This membrane consists of 
chitin, but is quite soft and movable, like the membrane of the 
tracheae or the web of the wings of insects. It is directly contin- 
uous with the walls of the head, and it extends forward to enclose 
the whole proboscis and to form the walls of the lips. It is open 
above so as to allow free motion to some of the hard parts. 

The mid segment folds on the basal segment by an elbow joint. 
On the under side of the mid segment is the meutum, or chin 
piece (m in Fig. 1 A), truncated behind, narrowing and bifurcated 
in front, not articulated to any hard supporting part, but fixed in 
the membraneous sheath which holds it in its place. 

Uppermost m the mid segment is the operculum of Lowne (o in 
Fig. iA,B and Fig. 3). This is a semi-tube, slit beneath, pointed in 
front, and sending backwards two long processes which I shall 
call " the great tendons." 

1 "The Anatomy and Physiology of the Blow-fly," by B. T. Lowne, Lond. 1870. 




1 880.] The Proboscis of the House-fly. 1 5 5 

In the central axis of the mid segment, and closely articulated 
to the front processes of the fulcrum, is a plate (Fig. 3, x) longi- 
tudinally curved upwards so as to embrace the operculum, and 
with it to form a canal. Its central axis and its lateral parts are 
thickened. Lowne calls it the cannula. It may be convenient to 
refer to its lateral arcuate thickenings as the trabeculoid arches. 

Lying in the channel formed by the operculum and cannula, 

and firmly articulated be- ry 

hind with the front end of v^ 

the fulcrum, is the li 

or hypopharynx (Fig. 

This is rather short 

house-fly, but 

Stomoxys, s e r 

piercing organ. 

The operculai 
the hypopharynx habitually j^"' ^Z^'rX Vr.mn ' -^ „f 

He on the axis piece, whose it). In front of the traheculoid arches are seen 
edges overlap it, but they the beginnings of the circum-orai rods. 
may be started up so as to project clear above the sheathing mem- 
brane of the mid segment without any rupture of the membrane. 
The distal segment, or tip, called " knob " in Burmeister's 
Entomology (Fig. 1, A and B, I), is a singular scraping and 
suctorial apparatus, with the oral opening in its upper part set 
amidst the large protrusible lips. When spread out its surface is 
covered by a system of about eighteen pairs of curved trans- 
verse ridges. These have a general resemblance to tracheae. 
Suffolk 1 calls them pseudo-trachea?, that is, false tracheae. They 
are split tubes, having a rent along their anterior surface, and are 
supported by a framework of chitinous semi-tubes, which are 
forked at alternate ends (Fig. I, D, shows the relation of two 
of these false tracheae with the intervening membranous crenula- 
tions). The line of opening of these tubes is zigzag, caused by 
the sheath-membrane flapping over the forked terminations of 
their supporting semi-tubes. 2 This line of opening can be shut 
so as to produce a closed channel, or opened and made rough 
like the face of a file. 

"1 Journal, June, 1869. 



156 The Proboscis of the House-fly. [March, 

On both sides of the mouth are hard beams of chitin, sup- 
ported on the trabeculoid processes of the axis piece of the mid 
segment (Fig. 3, xt), and themselves affording a foundation for 
the false tracheae. We shall call them the circum-oral rods (Fig. 
i,F). On the circum-oral rods, and intervening between the 
roots of the false tracheae, is formed a set of teeth. The blow- 
fly has three rows of these teeth (thirty teeth in all), each tooth 
being two-cusped. A small house-fly (similar to M. domesticd) has a 
similar arrangement, as has Musca casar. The carnivorous house- 
fly has only one row of five or six teeth on each side of the 
mouth, but the teeth are three-cusped, the cusps being more or 
less cut (Fig. 1, i?and F). The blow-fly has been found to use 
its teeth for scraping sugar-candy. 

I would suggest that these distinctions in the structure, num- 
ber and arrangement of the teeth are of generic value, and that 
the name Musca be applied only to those species having a single 
row of three-cusped teeth ; \vhil.-.t Calliphom, already made to 
include the blow-fly, should take in those having several rows of 
two-cusped teeth. 

On the distal end of the mentum of the mid segment, are two 
elastic chitinoiis bands, clasping the tip from behind'. When these 
bands are pulled apart by muscles inserted in the mentum, they 
open the lips wide. Muscles and tracheae are variously distrib- 
uted throughout the proboscis. At base of the tip is a nervous 
ganglionic mass which sends fine filaments to small terminal 
ganglia at the lower extremity of the lips, two of these ganglia 
being borne on the dichotomous branches of each nerve-pedicel. 
The surface of the proboscis supports hairs at various parts, espe- 
cially on the palps and at the tip. The tip itself has no muscles; 
it is tumid but not fleshy. 

The proboscis of the blow-fly and other Muscidae corresponds, 
except in detail, with that of the house-fly. The proboscis of the 
piercing-fly : v i has not the swollen tip, and its 

sheath is converted into a brown annulated tube, split above. Its 
basal part is retractile and exactly as in the house-fly. Its oper- 
cular piece, hypopharynx and axis piece are much elongated, as a 
piercing rather than a merely suctorial apparatus. In many points 
the oral apparatus of the mosquito corresponds so closely with 
that of the Muscidae, as to render valuable help towards the inter- 
pretation of the latter. 



i88o.] The Proboscis of the House-fly. 157 

Functions. — [. The proboscis is an organ of suction. The 
oesophagus traverses the inferior central part of the fulcrum, 
thence passes through the mid segment in the canal made by the 
operculum and the axis piece, being here joined by a pair of sali- 
vary ducts ; it then opens at the mouth, communicating with the 
false trachese. It can exude a drop of clear fluid from the salivary 
ducts, and when the proboscis is distended it can act as an organ 
of suction, receiving fluids from the false tracheae and conveying 
them to the digestive organs. The large supply of muscles 
within the fulcrum and in the axis piece, appears to be subservient 
to this process. 

2. Retraction. — Two long and powerful retractile muscles 
extend from the back part of the skull (near the foramen magnum) 
to the proximal end of the mentum (Fig. i,A, m). By contracting, 
these draw in the mid segment, so that its proximal end is close to 
the neck of the fly. Other muscles attached to the ventral proxi- 
mal processes of the fulcrum assist in drawing it in and up, thus 
turning the fulcrum upon its upper proximal processes which are 
hinged to the frontal piece of the skull. Thus the two proxi- 
mal segments of the proboscis are folded on each other, and are 
both drawn inwards and upwards into the skull, so that they are 
like the letter V lying on its side, with its acute angle backwards. 
One arm of this V is hinged to the lintel of the door-way, whilst 
the other arm bears the collapsed tip of the proboscis, which now 
serves as a door to close the entrance. The ends of the palps 
then protrude from the upper part of the doorway on both sides 
of the proboscis tip. 

3. Protrusion. — The part taken by inflation in extending the 
proboscis, is so obvious that it was suggested nearly a century 
ago by Gleichen, but the suggestion was rejected, and W. T. Suf- 
folk 1 infers that the structure of the interior of the head was 
unknown to Gleichen, " as the extension of the organ is attributed 
to inflation, and not to muscular action." 

It is easy to dispose of Mr. Suffolk's hasty criticism. Immerse 
the head of the fly in caustic potash, which destroys the muscles, 
the chitine of the membranous sheath and the tracheal tubes 
remaining intact, and you can still protrude the organ by slight 
pressure. Further, when the proboscis is pressed out and all its 
parts distended, pierce with a needle the swollen air sacs under the 

^p.cit. 



i 5 8 The Proboscis of the House-fly. [March, 

tip, and at once the tip collapses upon the mentum. 1 If you tear 
the membrane about the base of the proboscis that part collapses. 
If you press the head over much, the membrane-sheath sends out 
bulging processes which soon burst, sending bubbles of air 
through the water in which you are examining it. 

I have repeated these experiments so often as to be satisfied 
that the rich tracheal system which crowds the lower part of the 
cranial chamber is the chief agent in protruding the proboscis. 2 

The examination of the muscular arrangement justifies this con- 
clusion. Muscles cannot directly protrude anything, they only 
pull. In the fly they may and do aid in protruding the proboscis 
by swinging out the fulcrum. The long muscles which retract 
the mentum aid in straightening the proboscis when it is pro- 
truded, but the mentum is not attached proximally to any hard 
structure, and its firmness and power of supporting the tip depends 
on the tense condition of the membrane in which it lies, and this 



The great tendons which run back from the opercular piece 
(Fig. 3, t) have their tips united by muscles to the distal and the 
sub-distal processes of the fulcrum (/). Lowne understands these 
muscles to be flexors of the mid segment upon the basal segment. 
Their tendency on contracting would be rather as extensors ; but 
both suppositions are wrong. When they contract, instead of 
flexing the mid segment, the great tendons themselves bend, for 
they are too weak and too slightly articulated to the operculum 
to stand much pulling. Their work is of a more delicate nature. 
By acting alternately on the tendons, these muscles bend the tip 
of the fly from side to side, enabling this organ to move nimbly 
from place to place, as you may see it when foraging on your 
breakfast table. This mechanism is well developed in Stomoxys, 
where only the basal part of the proboscis is protrusible. We 
have already seen that the muscles extending from the mentum to 
the divergent rods which embrace the tip, serve to expand the 
lips to their fullest width; at the same time the tips become 
tensely swollen by air. 



1 880.] The Proboscis of the House-fly. 1 59 

Thus wc find that the protrusion and distension of this impor- 
tant organ is a joint affair, the tracheal system and the muscles 
combining their services. 1 

Homologies. — It is strange that no previous observer seems to 
have been struck by the evidence of the " great tendons " of the 
operculum as to what is the organic base of the mouth parts. 
These tendons are found, so far as we have observed, throughout 
the Diptera; they are evidently the tendons of some of the mouth 
parts, marking their origin. They could not be in the mid joint 
of an appendage ; the muscles which move the segments of any 
arthropod appendage on each other, are internal ; it is only when 
we get to their root that we find these tendons extending into the 
body of the animal. Hence we conclude that the mid segment 
is the true base of the fly's proboscis. We may, perhaps, go fur- 
ther and hold that these great tendons belong to the mandibles, 
for they closely resemble the mandibular tendons of other orders 
of insects and of the lobster. This will make the operculum rep- 
resent two united mandibles, probably enclosing the labrum. 2 

The palps seem to point out the maxillae, but it is not easy to 
determine to which of the hard pieces they belong, as they are 
borne on slight indurations of the membrane. The axis piece, 
with its trabeculoid bars, seems to represent the maxillae with its 
inner and outer processes. The hypopharynx and mcntum offer 
no difficulty. The small piece represented in Fig. 3 in advance of 
the fulcrum, may belong to the maxillae. The membrane sheath 
and tip with spreading lips may be regarded as the labium with 
its specially developed paraglossae. 

Having made out the chief mouth parts as represented by the 
■ ^egenbaur approaches this discovery in commenting on the tracheal system of 



serve more purposes than we have 

llustrates and confirms O^enbaur' 



s ^<*lybesofault^Ais°p^ 



160 The Proboscis of the House-fly. [March, 

mid segment and the tip, we have still the largest structure of all 
(the fulcrum) to explain. It seems to be general in Diptera ; even 
the mosquito possesses it; in other insects it is unknown. It could 
not be what Prof. Huxley suggests, "the labrum, mandibles and 
maxilla; coalescing;" at least its structure and forms in various 
Diptera give no evidence of such union, and how then are we to 
explain the mid segment with the great tendons? Mr. Lowne 
makes it a composite structure, the dorsal part being epistoma, 
and the ventral part pharyngeal, formed in the wall of the aliment- 
ary canal. This explanation will not satisfy, for the inner surface 
of the fulcrum has many muscles, which could not be there if it 
were only a chitinous lining of the cesophagus. One might as 
well expect to find muscles growing on the outside of a lobster as 
within its throat. 

In searching after the homology of this piece, I soon found that 
I must go outside the Diptera, nor was I long searching till the 
secret came out. Opening the head of a katydid and of a wasp, 
I found in both what I wanted; the endocranium, which runs 
from back to front of skull, strengthening it. Long ago Burmeis- 
ter informed us that the Diptera have no endocranium, but their 
skulls are as empty shells, easily fractured. But here we see that 
Burmeister was wrong; they have the endocranium in the proper 
position when the insect is being hatched and when its proboscis is 
withdrawn ; but instead of having it rigidly fixed in the skull, they 
have it free posteriorly, hinged in the front and able to swing out 
so as to form a pedestal for the mouth parts which make up the 
proboscis. 

Comparing Mr. Huxley's excellent description of the endocran- 
ium of the cockroach* we find the relation of parts with the retract- 
ed proboscis of the house-fly to correspond exactly. The endo- 
cranium has axis and wings corresponding to the structure of 
the fulcrum (Fig. 3). Its posterior extremity close to the foramen 
magnum, and the cesophagus pierces it ; so with the house-fly 
when the fulcrum is turned in. The great tendons of the mandi- 
bles are right and left of it, as we have seen them to be in the 
house-fly. What is true of the house-fly is, we believe, generally 
true of its order. 

Thus we have fallen upon a modification of structure dependent 
on metamorphosis of function, almost as striking as that which 

1 Anat. Invert. An., p. 403-404 (348 of American edition). 



i88o.] Mammalogy in the United States in 187 -9. 161 

exists between the suspensor of a bird's mandible and the small 
bones of the human ear. 

I find in the lobster a structure which is probably homologous 
with the endocranium of insects. It is an opademe running like 
a bulk-head across in rear of the rostrum, consisting of a central 
cross bar, and on each side two free plate- like wings. Under its 
central bar is the frame work which supports the stalked eyes. 
Its hinder surface gives attachment to muscles which reach the 
stomach. It is described by Huxley {Anatomy of the Invert., p. 
274, of American edition) as the opademe of the ophthalmic 



SKETCH OF PROGRESS IN MAMMALOGY IN THE 
UNITED STATES IN 1879. 

BY DR. ELLIOTT COUES, U.S.A. 

'THE year past has seen very little progress in our knowledge of 
A recent Mammalia, so far as contributions to that subject in the 
United States are concerned. Mr. J. A. Allen, one of the recog- 
nized leaders, has apparently been too busy with his great work on 
seals (now in press and about half printed) to do much else in 
mammals, and the present writer's labor in the same field has been 
confined to the " History of North American Mammals." The 
latter is still too far from completion to speak about; but Mr. 
Allen's Pinnipedia may be expected to appear very .shortly, doubt- 
less in 1880. Having the supervision of its publication in its pas- 
sage through the press, the writer is in position to speak confidently 
of its merits and importance. It will make an octavo of perhaps 
800 pages, illustrated with numerous wood engravings, mostly 
original ; and will unquestionably become at once the work upon 
the subject. In thoroughness of treatment, accuracy and extent of 
investigation, and other requirements of masterly workmanship, it 
will compare with the author's celebrated memoir on the Ameri- 
can bison. 

As Prof. Leidy has done nothing during the year, either in fos- 
sil or living mammals, the field of the former has been left to Mr. 
Marsh and Mr. Cope, whose important contributions are noted 
beyond. 

Certainly the most notable and perhaps the most significant 
Paper on mammals of the past, present and, we may add, of the 



1 62 Mammalogy in the United States in 1879. [March, 

future, is Mr. Cope's, " On the genera of Felidae and Canidae," in 
the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, giving the author's 
views of their primitive types and of the successive steps through 
which they have passed, with detailed characters of the genera, 
including several new ones, and a nominal list of the species of 
both families. In the Felidae, Mr. Cope recognizes altogether 
fourteen genera (including Cryptoprocta, between Smilodon and 
Pseudiclurus) and ninety species — which arc probably too numer- 
ous in the genera Felis and Lyncus, as the author remarks. In 
adopting Uucia of Gray as a generic term, the author assumes it 
to be derived from Uncus, a hook, but is it anything more than 
"ounce" in Latin? Dinictis cyclops n. sp., is fully described, p. 
176. The interest of this paper perhaps centers about Synagodns 
mansuciiis and Dysodus pravus, two new genera and species 
founded upon before-supposed varieties of Cams familiaris. Of the 
Synagodns it is stated to be " uncertain whether any species of this 
genus exists in a wild state. Should such not be the case, we can 
only predicate the former existence of such an one as entirely 
different from the Canis familiaris , and which has given origin to 
the existing one." Dysodus pravus is the Japanese lap dog. These 
are regarded as " the most specialized of the Cauida?." In this 
connection the author refers to the frequently-observed reduced 
dentition of man, and reasons from " what is elsewhere known in 
zoology, that the same or nearly the same specific characters may 
be found in different genera," that different genera may be found 
in the same species, which becomes a different species upon the 
circumstance of being referred to a new genus. Two hypotheti- 
cal genera of Homintdtk to " be at some future day added to 
Homo" are named and described in anticipation of the establish- 
ment as a generic character of certain dental peculiarities, namely: 
Metattthropos with incisors \, and Epanthropos with molars §. The 
species of these genera, left unnamed, may be provisionally des- 
ignated respectively M. incipiens and E. procul, with reference to 
their extremely primitive state of possible accomplishment. Much 
might be said, doubtless, for and against the availability of names 
proposed for conjectural species in futuro. The logical extreme 
of the procedure might be a potential Pseudanthropops gingivatus, 
that is, an hypothetical anthropomorphic super-simian without 
canines ; the dental formula of which would be, according to our 
inference and our ignorance, I. ?, C. 0, P m - ?, M. ?. The new spe- 



i88o.] Mammalogy in the United States in 1879. 163 

cies of Canidcz of this paper are Temnocyon coryphceus and Iciicyon 
crassivultus . 

In the same part of these Proceedings (April-October) Mr. H. C. 
Chapman describes the placentation of Macacus cynomolgus, and 
an earlier one by the same author is on the anatomy of the Chim- 
panzee, illustrated with four plates. Mr. John A. Ryder continues 
from his paper of 1878 (pp. 45-80) his notes on the mechanical 
Genesis of tooth forms, seeking to show the modes in which the 
teeth of mammals are modified by movements of the jaws in mas- 
tication, through a long series of generations ; reaching the con- 
clusion - that mechanical strains and impacts had probably been 
the secondary causes to which the origin of the various forms of 
teeth might, in a large measure, be attributed." He here offers 
some new evidence based upon more accurate observations of the 
mode in which herbivorous ungulates masticate their food. In the 
same line of research, Mr. Cope has a paper on the origin of the 
specialized teeth of the Carnivora, in the Naturalist for March, 
J 879. P- 171. 

Other articles on recent Mammalia by the same author in the 
same journal, are on the California gray whale, p. 655; on the 
Japanese lap dog, p. 655, and a paper on the zoology of Mon- 
tana, p. 433. Various other brief articles or notes on mammals 
in the Naturalist need not be more than alluded to here. 

The Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey contains 
two important papers, by Mr. Allen, on the genera Nasna and 
Bassaris, in which the specific characters and very complicated 
synonymy of the two species of each genus which the author al- 
lows to stand, are carefully worked out. 

For the rest, several of the newspapers of semi-scientific char- 
acter give a fair space to game mammals, as they do to birds ; 
Forest and Stream and the Chicago Field are to be specially men- 
tioned in this connection. Among other subjects the question of 
hydrophobia from the bite of the skunk has occupied a prominent 
Place; the contributions, however, being mostly the experiences of 
unscientific observers. It seems to be established : (1.) That skunk 
t»te may produce a fatal disease undistinguishable from rabies 
camna, or ordinary hydrophobia; (2.) that skunk bite may be 
perfectly innocuous, and therefore, (3.) that hydrophobia from 
skunk bite only results under a rabid condition of the animal. 
No peculiarities of the case, as distinguished from that of a mad 



164 Mammalogy in the United States in 1879. [March, 

doer or cat, appear to have been established, notwithstanding 
repeated assertions that skunk bite is always and necessarily fatal. 

To the elucidation of fossil mammals the contributions of Mr. 
Marsh and Mr. Cope have been both numerous and important. 
If these still continue, as in former years, to represent the accu- 
mulation of material in the way of new genera and species, and 
the general enlargement of the view, rather than the attainment 
of final results based upon all the data acquired, they neverthe- 
less include important discoveries and generalizations. 

Foremost among these comes Mr. Marsh's discovery of Jurassic 
mammals in this country. The original announcement was made 
by Mr. Marsh in June, 1878, in the American Journal of Science, 
with description of Dryolestes priscus from the Atlantosauris beds 
of the Upper Jurassic, the associated fossils being mainly Dino- 

To this succeeded, in July, 1879, the notice of Stylacodon gra- 
cilis, and in September, 1879, additional remains of Jurassic mam- 
mals were described as Dryolestes vorax and Tinodon bellies. It is 
interesting to observe, first, that the Jurassic genera indicate as 
many new families, and further, that they confirm Mr. Marsh's 
original determination of the Atlantosaurus beds as Upper 

The same journal for June has also an interesting paper by the 
same on polydactyle horses, recent and extinct. It is illustrated 
with a plate of the genealogy of the horse, showing the modifica- 
tion of the limbs and teeth from Orohippus to Eqmis. This paper 
defines clearly, for the first time it is believed, the true difference 
between the orders none too aptly named Perissodactyla and 
Artiodactyla by Owen. The difference between the " odd-toed " 
and "even-toed" structure is stated to be "a profound one, 
extending to nearly every part of the skeleton, and marking two 
distinct groups of Ungulates. The number of toes has really 
nothing to do with the true distinction, and hence the terms in 
use are especially misleading. The real difference, so far as the 
feet are concerned, is, that in the Perissodactyle type the axis of 
the limb passes through the middle of the third digit (Mesaxonia), 
while in Artiodactyles it is outside of this digit (Panixonia), 
between it and the fourth." 

Mr. Cope's contributions to the same branch of the subject 
during 1879, will all be found in the publications of the Philadel- 



i88o.] Mammalogy in the United States in 1879. 165 

phia Academy, of the American Philosophical Society, the 
American Naturalist, and the U. S. Geological Survey " Bulle- 
tin." The first of these has been already noted in connection 
with recent mammals. The Naturalist contains many short 
papers, among which are: Extinct Mammalia of Oregon, p. 131 
(in full in Bull. U. S. Geological Survey, No. 1, Feb. 28, p. 55-69); 
Merycopatcr and Hoplophoneus, p. 197; a new Anchitherium (A. 
preestans) ; A Decade of Dogs (five genera, ten species) p. 530; 
and the Cave Bear of California ( Arctotkcrium simum sp. n.), 
p. 791. 

Mr. J. A. Ryder, in ]the Naturalist for September, notes a 
remarkable genus of sloths, Grypotherium Reinhardt, typical of a 
sub-family Diarhince and a species of Coelodon Reinhardt, 1878. 

Mr. Cope's paper, above mentioned, in the Hayden Bulletin, 
describes for the Miocene Territories of Oregon: Enhydrocyon 
(g. n.) stenocephalia, E. basil at its, Pocbrothcnum stcrnbcigii, Bo'dch- 
oerus (g. n .) humerosus, Lntrictis lycopotamicus, Protolabis trans- 
montanus, spp. nn. 

The same author's " Relations of the Horizons of Extinct Ver- 
tebrata of Europe and North America," in the same Bulletin, pp. 
33-54. is doubtless his most important contribution, but it is one 
to which it is impossible to do justice in the present connection. 

" I. Portions of all the faunas of all the primary divisions of 
geologic times have been recognized on both the European and 
North American continents. 

"II. Parallels requiring general identification of principal divi- 
sions of these fauna may be detected. These are : the Coal 
measures; the Permian; the Laramie; the 'Maestrichtian ; the 
Eocene ; the Miocene. 

" III. Exact identifications of restricted divisions may be made 
in a few instances only ; such are the Turonian and the Nio- 
brara; the Suessonian and the Wasatch ; the Equus beds and the 
Pliocene." 

The Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey, Vol. v., No. 2, 
published September 6, 18 19, has a paper by Mr. Cope, on the 
extinct Rhinocerida of North America and their allies, which 
goes very fully into the characters of the group, giving new defi- 
nitions of Perissodactyle families and genera, and describing 
many of the latter in detail, with analyses of various species. 



1 66 A Review of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 

The same paper is adapted to the American Naturalist for 
December, 1879, PP- 77 la ~J> w i tri eight cuts. 

Pages ygSa-b, of American Naturalist for December, give in 
brief some of the more important results of Mr. Cope's recent 
trip to the Pacific coast, describing among other things the 
remarkable new fossil cats, Archcelurus debilis and Hoplophonens 
platycopis. 

Mr. Cope's Palaeontological Bulletin, No. 31, being a "Second 
Contribution to a Knowledge of the Miocene Fauna of Oregon," 
"read before the American Philosophical Society, December 5, 
1879," contains descriptions of the following new fossil mammals: 
Ilcspcromvs nanaiodon, Sciitvu* , ./', Chcenohyus 

(g. n.) decedens, Tim •/■> , t 1 ' nits, TaUcocI r//.s subcequns, Colo- 
reodon (g. n.) ferox, C. macrocephalus. The date of printing is 
given as December 24, 1870. 



A REVIEW OF THE MODERN DOCTRINE OF 
EVOLUTION. 1 



THE doctrine of evolution of organic types is sometimes appro- 
priately called the doctrine of derivation, and its supporters, 
derivatists. This is because it teaches the derivation of species, 
genera and other divisions, from pre-existent ones, by a process 
of modification in ordinary descent by reproduction. The oppo- 
site or creativist doctrine teaches that these forms were created as 
we see them to-day, or nearly so ; and that the natural divisions 
and species of organic beings havemever been capable of change, 
the one into the other. 

/. The Evidence for Evolution. 

The reasons which induce me to accept the derivatist doctrine, 
and to reject the creational, fall under the two heads of pro- 
babilities and conclusive evidence. The probabilities are cumula- 
tive in their pointings, and form part of a total body of evidence 
which is, to my mind, conclusive. The reasons why derivation 
is probable are the successional relation of increment or decre- 
ment of structure, observed in : 

1 Abstract of a lecture delivered before the California Academy of Sciences, Oct. 
27, 1879. 



i88o.] A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 167 

1. Systematic relation (taxonomy) ; 2. Embryonic growth (em- 
bryology) ; 3. In geologic time (palaeontology) ; 4. And in the 
coincidence in the successions seen in Nos. 1, 2 and 3. 

The fact that it is necessary to arrange animals in an order cor- 
responding with the phases of their embryonic history is remark- 
able; but the further fact, shown by palaeontology, that the same 
succession marked the ages of past time, at once brings evolution 
within the limits of strong probability. Nevertheless, all this 
might have been a mere system, without transitions between its 
members; organic types might have been created unchangeable, 
but presenting the mutual relations in question. But if transi- 
tions among these members can be shown to take place, then 
indeed the phenomena mentioned receive a sufficient explanation. 
They are seen to be the necessary relations of the parts of a shift- 
ing scene of progression and retrogression ; they express com- 
binations of structure, which, though often long enduring, are, 
nevertheless, not perpetual, but give way to other combinations 
to be in their turn dissolved. Now, if there is anything well 
known in nature, it is that there are divisions of various ranks in 
the vegetable and animal kingdoms, whose contents present varia- 
tions of structure which are confessedly additions to or subtrac- 
tions from the characters of ancestors, which have appeared during 
ordinary descent. The protean species, genera, etc., are well 

sub-species, sub-genera, etc., admits derivation so far as they are 
concerned. The facts of variation, including "sporting," etc., are 
notorious, not only among domesticated, but also in wild animals 
and plants. The facts have led some persons to suggest that 
species have been produced by evolution from a single specific 
center, but that the genus and other comprehensive divisions are 
unchangeable. But I think I have shown, in a paper entitled, 
" The Origin of Genera," 1 that the structural characters which 
define genera, and even higher divisions, are subjects of variation 
to as great an extent as are the less profound specific characters ; 
and, moreover, that the evidence of derivation which they present 
»s singularly clear and conclusive. The changes of both genus 
and species character are always of the nature of additions to or 
subtractions from those of one generation displayed by their 
descendants. As such, they form the closing chapters o( the 
embryonic or growth-history of the modified generation. 

1 Philadelphia, ,869. « Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, 1S6S." 






A Review of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 



explain more fully the application of the above 
troduce a few examples selected from the subjects 
Their number might be indefinitely extended. I 
of the tailless Batrachia Anitra (frogs, toads, 
is are very simple and clear, and show the 
adult structure and embryonic succession. 



T 



9**f 



first cite the gen 
etc.), whose rela 
parallelism betw 
See above, I and 2. 

The greater number of Batrachia Amira fall into two divisions, 
which differ only in the structure of the lower portion of their 
scapular arch, or shoulder girdle. In the one the opposite halves 
are capable of movements which contract or expand the capacity 
of the thorax ; in the other the opposite halves abut against 
each other so as to be incapable of movement, thus preserving 
the size of the thoracic cavity. But during the early stages, the 
frogs of this division 
have the movable 
shoulder girdle which 
characterizes those of 
the other division, 
the consolidation con- 
tituting a modification 
superadded in attain- 
ing maturity. Further- 
more, young Anit- 
ra are toothless, and 
one section of the spe- 
cies with embryonic 
shoulder girdle never 
acquire teeth. So here 
we have a group which is imperfect in two points instead of one. 
This is the tribe Bufoniformia ; the tribe with teeth and embry- 
onic shoulder girdle is called the Arcifera, and that which is 
advanced in both these respects is the Ranifonnia. Now the 
frogs of each of these divisions present nearly similar scales of 
development of another part of the skeleton, viz : the bones of 
the top of the skull. We find some in which one of these bones 
(ethmoid) is represented by cartilage only, and the fronto-parietals 
and nasals are represented by only a narrow strip of bone each. 
In the next type the ethmoid is ossified ; in the next, we have the 
fronto-parietal completely ossified, and the nasals range from nar- 




i!.s. Ki- 



Fig. 3. 



i88o.] A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 169 

row strips to complete roofs ; in the fourth station on the line, 
these bones are rough, with a hyperostosis of their surfaces ; and 
in the next set of species, this ossification fills the skin, which is 
thus no longer separable from the cranial bones ; in the sixth 
form the ossification is extended so as to roof in the temporal 
muscles and enclose the orbits behind, while in the rare seventh 
and last stage, the tympanum is also enclosed behind by bone. 
Now all of these types are not found in all of the families of the 
Anura, but the greater number of them are. Six principal fami- 
lies, four of which belong to the Arcifera, are named in the 
diagram below, and three or four others might have been added. I 
do not give the names of the genera which are defined as above 
described, referring to the explanation of the cuts for them, but 
indicate them by the numbers on the left margin of the page, 
which correspond to those of the definitions above given. A zero 
mark signifies the absence or non-discovery of a generic type. 



It is evident, from what has preceded, that a perfecting of the 
shoulder-girdle in any of the species of the Bufoniform and Ar- 
ciferous columns, would place it in the series of Raniformia. An 
accession of teeth in a species of the division Bnfoniformia, 
would make it one of the Arcifera ; while a small amount of 
change in the ossification of the bones of the skull would transfer 
a species from one to another of the generic stations represented 
by the numbers of the columns from one to seven. 

There are few groups where this law of parallelism is so readi- 
ly observed among cotemporary types as the Batrackia, but it is 
none the less universal. The kind of parallelism usually observed 
W that in which there is only a partial resemblance between adults 
of certain animals and the young of others. This has been termed 



170 A Review of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 



Fig. 2. 
Fig. f. 

Fig. 6. 





B UFONIDJE. SCA PHIOPIDM AND PEL OB A TID&. 



1880] A Review of the Modern Doctiinc of Evolution. 171 



l& 



a 






172 A Reviezv of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 

" inexact parallelism," and the relation is presented by forms 
not very nearly phylogenetically related. The more remote the 
phylogenetic lines of two types, the more 
"inexact" will their parallelism be. It was 
once a question whether any parallelism can 
be traced between the members of the five or 
six primary divisions of animals, and in my 
essay on the " Origin of Genera," I was 
compelled to state that there was then " no 
evidence of the community of origin of 
these divisions." Since that time, Haeckel 
has published his " Gastraea Theory." This 
Fig. 3. is a grand generalization from the facts of 

embryology, which shows the community 
in type of the early stages of all animals, 
and the similarity of the phases which they 
present during a part of their larval life. 
Fig. 3>. The exceptions to this law which have been 

observed, will probably be explained, as have 
been those which have been urged against 
the law of homologies in anatomy. 

The palaeontology of the Batrachia Amtra 
is largely unknown, so we must look else- 
where for proof of the truth of the fourth pro- 
position, viz., that the successional relation 
in embryology corresponds with that shown 
by palaeontology to have existed in geo- 
logic time. 

For this purpose I select one of the 
most complete series known to palaeontol- 
^ ^ ogy ; that of the camels or Camelidce, whose 

«8B^R§0 remains are found abundantly in various 
B parts of our country. The succession of 
\j,''"^Mf tne known genera is seen in the structure of 

yti^^W the bones of the feet, and of the superior 

^^^ incisor and premolar teeth. The metatarsal 

Fig. 5. and metacarpal bones are or are not co- 

ranidm. ossified into a cannon bone ; the first and 

second superior incisor teeth are present, rudimental or want- 
ing, and the premolars number from four to one. The relations 



).] A Reviezv of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 

:h these conditions bear to geologic time is displayed i 
wing table, commencing with the lowest horizon : 






Ihis table shows that geological time has witnessed, in the his- 
tory of the Camelida, the consolidation of the bones of the feet 
and a great reduction in the numbers of the incisor and premolar 
teeth. The embryonic history of these parts is as follows : In 
the foetal state all the Ruminantia (to which the camels belong) 
have the cannon bones divided as in Pocbrotherium ; they exhibit 
also incisor teeth, as in that genus and Protolabis. Very young 
recent camels have the additional premolar of Pliauchenia. They 
shed this tooth at an early period, but very rarely a camel is found 
in which the tooth persists. The anterior premolar of the normal 
tannins is in like manner found in the young lama (Auchenia), 
but is shed long before the animal attains maturity. I may add 
that in some species of Procamelus caducous scales of enamel 
and dentine in shallow cavities represent the incisive dentition of 
Protolabis. 

It remains to shows that characters of the kind above mention- 
ed are sometimes inconstant ; that they may or may not appear 
m individuals of a species. Under such circumstances it is evi- 
dent that their origin does not imply any break in the line of de- 

. It is well known that the 
presence of a burr or ring of 
Dunding the base of the horn. Now 
in the extinct tertiary genus Cosoryx there are three species 
which possess or lack this burr indifferently. Why some indi- 
viduals should, and others should not possess it, is not known. 

Second, as to a generic character. The genus Cants (dog) is 
defined by the presence of two tubercular molars in the inferior 
series. The allied genus Tlious, possesses three such teeth, while 



174 A Revuzv of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 

Icticyon has but one. Now examples of Canis familiaris (domestic 
dog) with but one tubercular molar are not rare, while an individ- 
ual with three is occasionably found. 

To take another case. The normal dentition of Homo (man) is, 
on each side, incisors, 2 ; canins, I ; premolars, 2 ; molars, 3. It 
is very common to find in the higher races, individuals who 
have molars only two in one or both jaws; and the absence of the 
external incisors of the upper jaw is almost as frequently met with. 
Here we have two new generic variations in one and the same 
species. 

In specific characters variations are most familiar. Thus, the 
young of deer are generally spotted, and the adults are nearly 
uniform in coloration. Some deer (as the Axis) retain the spotted 
coloration throughout life, while an occasional spotted individual 
of unicolor species, is a violation of specific character by a failure 
to develop. The larvae of some salamanders are of uniform col- 
oration, and the adults spotted. The unicolor adults of the same 
species, not uncommonly met with, present examples of the same 

Any biologist can select hundreds of similar cases from his 
special department of study. 

//. The Laws of Evolution. 

Having reviewed the reasons why the doctrine of evolution 
should be received as truth, I desire to give attention to the laws 
which may be made out by reference to its phenomena. Progress 
in this direction is difficult, owing to the natural impediments in 
the way of studying the history of the growth of living beings. 
We will, however, commence by examining more fully the phe- 
nomena with which we have to deal. 

It is well understood that the world of animal life is a 
nicely adjusted equilibrium, maintained between each individual 
and its environment. This environment exerts forces both purely 
physical, and those exercised by other animals. Animals an- 
tagonize each other in procuring food, whether that food con- 
sist of vegetation or of other animals, but in the latter case the 
conflict is more severe. A similar competition exists among male 
animals in the matter of reproduction. These exhibitions of 
energy constitute the struggle for existence, which is the daily 
business of the living world. It is well understood, that in this 
struggle the individuals best provided with means of self-preser- 



i88o.] A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 175 

vation necessarily survive, while the weak in resources must dis- 
appear from the scene. Hence those which survive must dis- 
play some especial fitness for existence under the circumstances 
of their environment, whatever they may be. So the " survival 
of the fittest " is believed to be a law of evolution, and the pro- • 
cess by which it is brought about has been termed "natural selec- 
tion." The works of Darwin and others have satisfied biologists 
that this is a vera causa. 

Before the excellence of a machine can be tested, it must exist, 
and before man or nature selects the best, there must be at least two 
to choose from as alternatives. Furthermore it is exceedingly im- 
probable that the nicely adapted machinery of animals should have 
come into existence without the operation of causes leading 
directly to that end. The doctrines of" selection" and "survival" 
plainly do not reach the kernel of evolution, which is, as I have 
long since pointed out, the question of "the origin of the fittest." 
The omission of this problem from the discussion of evolution, 
is to leave Hamlet out of the play to which he has given the 
name. The law by which structures originate is one thing; those 
by which they are restricted, directed, or destroyed, is another 
thin- 
There are two kinds of evolution, progressive and retrogres- 
sive ; or, to use expressions more free from objection, by ad- 
dition of parts, and by substraction of parts. It is further 
evident that that animal which adds something to its struc- 
ture which its parents did not possess, has grown more than , 
they; while that which does not attain to all the characteristics 
of its ancestors has grown less than they. To express the change 
in the growth-history which constitutes the beginning of evo- 
lution, I have employed the terms " acceleration and retardation." 
Generally these expressions are literally exact, i. c., there is an in- 
creased rate of growth in evolution by addition, and a decreased 
ra^ in evolution by subtraction; but this is not always the case, 
for some divisions of animals have increased the length of their 
growth-period without reference to evolution in structure. The 
erms express the phenomena figuratively, where not exact in the 
sense of time, and I believe they are sufficiently clear. The origin 
of the fittest is then a result of either acceleration or retardation. 
It is easy to perceive that a character which makes its appearance 
lr * a parent before or near to the breeding season is likely to be 



A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 

ted to its descendants ; so also a character which is 
r this time is likely to be wanting from the offspring. 
ses of acceleration and retardation may next claim atten- 



♦ It is well known that the decomposition of the nutritive fluids 

• within living animals gives rise, in the appropriate tissues, to 
exhibitions of different kinds of forces. These are, motion in all 
classes ; heat in some only ; in a still smaller number, electricity 
and light; in all, at certain times, growth-force or bathmism ; in 
many, phrenism or mental or thought-force. These are all derived 
from equivalent amounts of chemical force which are liberated 
by the dissolution of protoplasm. This organic substance, con- 
sisting of CHON, undergoes retrograde metamorphosis, being 
resolved into the simpler C0 2 , HO, etc., and necessarily liberates 
force in the process. None of the functions of animal life can be 
maintained without supplies of protoplasm. We have here to do 
with bathmism. It consists of the movement of material to, and 
its deposition in, certain definite portions of the growing egg, or 
foetus, as the case may be. It is different in its movements in 
every species, and its direction is probably the resultant of a 
number of opposing strains. In the simplest animals its polar 
equilibrium is little disturbed, for these creatures consist of nearly 
globular musses of cells. As we ascend the scale a greater and 
more marked interference becomes apparent ; radiated animals 
display energy in a number of radiating lines rather than in the 
spaces between them ; and in longitudinal animals, a longitudinal 
axis exceeds all others in extent and importance. In the highest 
animals its results are much more evident at one extremity of the 
axis (head) than at the other, and the diverging lines are reduced 
to, four (the limbs). In each species the movements of this 
force are uniform and habitual, and it is evident that the habit is 
so deeply seated that only a very strong dynamic interference 
can modify or divert it. The interfering forces are probably 
all those transmissible through living tissue, and especially 
molar force. Thus every species has its own specific kind of 
bathmic force. 

The characters of living beings are either adaptive or non- 
adaptive ; they are either machines especially fitted to meet the 
peculiarities of their environment, or they are not. Among the 
latter may be ranged rudimental structures and also many others 



1 88a] A Koru:o of the Modern Doctrine of /-volution. 177 

of no sufficient use. They are all due either to excess or defect 
of growth force ; they are either consequences of a removal of 
nutritive material to other portions of the body; or they are due 
to an excess of such material which renders an organ or part use- 
less through disproportionate size. Of the former class may be 
cited the absence of the tail in some monkeys and birds ; also of 
the teeth in some Cetaceans; of the latter kind are the enormous 
tusks of the mammoth and the recurved superior canines of the 
babyrussa. The change of destination of this material has been 
probably due to the construction of adaptive machines whose 
perfection from time to time has required the use of larger and 
larger proportions of force and material. 

In considering the origin of adaptive structures, two alternative 
propositions are presented to us. Did the occasion for its use 
follow the appearance of the structure, or did the need for the 
structure precede its appearance? The following answer to the 
question has always been the most intelligible to me. Animals 
and plants are dependent for existence on their environment. It 
is an every-day experience that changes in environment occur 
without any preparation for them on the part of living things. If 
the changes are very great, death is the result. It is evident that 
the influence of environment is brought to bear on life as it is, or 
has been, and that special adaptations to it on their part must fol- 
low, not precede changes of climate, topography, population, etc. 
We have another important consideration to add lo-this one,* viz: 
the well-known influence of use, i. c, motion, on nutrition. Exer- 
cise of an organ determines nutritive material to it, and the ner- 
vous or other influence which does this, equally determines 
nutritive material to localities in the body to which an effort to 
move is directed, whether an executive organ exist there or not. 
The habit of effort or use determining the nutritive habit must be 
inherited, and result in the growing young, in additional struc- 
ture. Change of structure, denied to the adult on account of its 
fixity, will be realized in the growing or plastic condition of fcetal 
°r infant life. The two considerations here brought forward lead 
me to think that the cause of acceleration, in many adaptive 



" !U ; which in turn modify structure. The character of 
in the successive grades of life may be expressed by 
following table, passing from the lowest to the highest: 



A Review of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [March, 

1. Passive or motionless beings ; 

by climate and food only. 

2. Movable beings ; 

by climate, food and motion. 



bb, directed by desire without ratiocination, or 
bbb, by desire directed by reason. 

The only general rules as to the direct influence of motion on 
structure which can be laid down at present are two, viz: That 
density of tissue is in direct ratio to pressure, up to a certain 
point ; 2 and that excess of growth force, in a limited space, pro- 
duces complications of the surfaces stimulated. 3 These and other 
laws, yet unknown, have probably led the changes expressed by 
evolution, while many others have followed the disturbance of 
equilibrium which they have produced. 

I here allude incidentally to the question of transmission or 
inheritance. It has been maintained above that the bathmic force 
of each species is different from that of all other species. This 
force is characteristic of some unit of organization of living 
beings ; and this probably consists of several molecules. This 
unit has been termed, by Haeckel, the plastidule. The trans- 
mission of the bathmic force of one generation to another would 
be effected by the transmission of one or more living plastidules; 
and this is probably precisely what is accomplished in reproduc- 
tion. The Dynamic Theory of reproduction I proposed in 187 1, 4 
and it has been since adopted by Haeckel under the name of 
perigenesis. I compared the transmission of bathmic force to 
that of the phenomenon of combustion, which is a force conver- 
sion transmitted from substance to substance by contact. The 
recent observations of Hertwig, Biitschli and others, confirm this 
view. The theory of pangenesis, devised to explain the phenom- 
enon of reproduction, is to my mind quite inadequate. 

1 Movements coming under this head are often called reflex. 

2 SeeA«» Monthly, 1872. 

3 " Method of Creation," Philadelphia, 1871. 



EXPLANATION OF CUTS OF CRANIA OF ANURA. 



lifies unossified ethmoid. Most c 
Chelydobatrachus gon/di Cray, 



li'.K— Fig. i. 77ioro/>,i wis, , Bibr., Brazil. Fig, 2, I/y/sib, i dcun. m I>. 
and ]J., Surinam. Fig. 2 ', llyfsiboas punrMm Schn., Brazil. Fig. 3 2 , Scytopis 
v.nuh'stts Hamlin, Brazil. Fig. 6, Trachycephalus geographicus D. and B., 

ihiNATiuii.i:.— Fig. i, Eusophus n,'bul,sus Gir., Chili. Fig. 2, Borborooctcs (,i;- 
»nnu\;ish Gthr., Tasmania. Fig. j, Elosia nasus Licht.. Brazil. Fig. 3 3 > //■'- 
/<■</,* ,wte,-/„„ I), and B., W. Indies. Fig. 4 , Grypiscm umbrinm G T c, 
15raz.il. Fig. 6, Calyptocephahn gayi I). & B., Chili. 



[71/ &- Continued^ 
CONCERNING AMBER. 1 



"THE history of amber illustrates most clearly not only the • 
* and tedious growth of civilization, but also the seeming 
versity and obtuseness of human nature, which, especially in 
mer times, so retarded the advancement of science. Exhua 
this history from the dim, far distant, prehistoric past, we find 
ng first used for fuel by the almost barbaric nortl 






among the more refined southern peoples, amb. 



bronzes and their other articles of 1 
and had its economical and financial import. The oldest written 
documents that have come to us, mention it as one of the chief 
articles of luxury of the ancient civilized world, an object of 
greater request than fine gold. 



1 Reai 

Jgust, 1879. 



l8o Concerning Amber. [March, 

Three thousand years ago it was well known among the inhabi- 
tants of Hellas that amber would attract light bodies, and Thales, 
one of the " seven wise men of Greece," adduced that circumstance 
in support of his theory that inanimate objects possessed souls, but 
two and a-half thousand years passed before it was discovered 
that it was this self-same power which, flashing amid the roar of 
thunder, illuminated the wide canopy of Heaven, bound iron to 
iron and directed the silently recurring course of the magnetic 

Tamed and chained as we have considered this all -pervading 
element, still, as day by day we are startled by new discoveries, 
and while awaiting the result of investigations which may trans- 
form the night of our great metropolis into day, are we not as 
puzzled that these problems should have remained so long unsolved 
as astonished at their solution ? 

Americans can complacently pardon the inexplicable fact that 
Dr. Wall, the English scientist, when succeeding in drawing the 
electric spark from amber and hearing the crackling sound accom- 
panying it, compared the two to thunder and lightning, but left 
the discovery of their being identical to our Benjamin Franklin, 
with his kite and key. 

Although nearly two thousand years ago, Pliny wrote that 
amber was the fossil resin of the extinct Conifer, Succinum //nitcs, 
to-day the subject presents many unsolved problems. It is true 
the modern geological column has assigned it an approximate 
geological place, and modern chemistry has given it a formula, 
and its principal scientific value as the source of succinic acid and 
varnish. 

A brief review of some established facts in regard to amber as 
also some of the erroneous but popularly received ideas, which, 
if unimportant, still remain uncorrected, will perhaps show that 
for a substance ever popular, coveted as a luxury, even ranking as 
a gem, both useful and ornamental, with a name in every lang ;uage 
expressive of its many qualities, it has scarcely received the atten- 
tion it deserves. 

Probably the oldest of these names is banstcin, or its equiva- 
lent in the old Teutonic, from its combustibility. Its two Latin 
names are succinum (juice) and linatrium. In Persian it is called 
kornbu, or straw robber ; in French the trivial name is also tire de 
paille, from its attracting straw ; in Italian, Spanish and English 



i88o.] Concerning Amber. 1 8 1 

nearly the same name is given for amber, signifying cluster or 
mass. The first Greek name applied to it was a term signifying 
the rays of the sun, either from the color or some relation to the 
sun god. The popular Greek name was electron, or the attractor, 
and thus our substance can boast of having added a word to 
nearly every language, as even the mother-tongue-loving Germans 
find electritdt more euphonious than their harsher synonym, 
bcrnsniiikraftigiingr'ustseug. 

Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland and England are given as 
amber-producing countries, but it must not be forgotten that 
under this name are included many fossil resins, the differences 
in which have as yet been hardly determined. In Lemburg, in 
the Tertiary sandstone, with giant oysters, a splendid amber is 
found in immensely large pieces, clearer than the Prussian, and 
producing a most delightful odor when burnt. 

In the pitch coal of Bohemia, Reutz found specimens contain- 
ing sulphur, and also with the foraminifera of the Vienna Ter- 
tiary. Daubre found amber in Alsace, and Schubert in the Alps, 
but these were of a different quality from that of the Baltic sea. 
But there is no doubt that this amber conifer forest reached from 
Holland over the German coast, through Siberia and Kamtschatka 
even to North America, and from the abundance of amber found 
in some localities, those conifers must have been as productive as 
is at present the Dammara australis of New Zealand, the twigs 
and branches of which are so laden with white resin as to have 
the appearance of being covered with icicles. 

One of the great deposits of amber is in the Hauptvaterland, 
where on the plains of Pomerania the peasants dig in the surface 
clay for it. In the vicinity of Brandenburg, pieces have been 
found weighing four pounds. 

From this abundance of amber in the drift clay and also from 
the fact that branches of " arbor vitae " (Thuja occidentalis) occur 
•n the Baltic amber, and have been found in the stomach of the 
mastodon in the United States, Goppert concluded that the 
" Diluvial," or time of the mammoth in the old world and masto- 
don in the new, was the age of amber. 

This theory has since been entirely disproved. 

% far the most celebrated locality for its richness in amber, 
and one which still possesses great stores of this valuable fossil, 
is the peninsula of Samland— a portion of Prussia nearly sur- 
rounded by the Baltic sea. 



] 82 Concerning Amber. [March, 

The northern part of this region, which constitutes the pro- 
montory of Briisterort, is very hilly, and the coast banks are often 
from one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet high. Formerly 
this was all owned and worked by the German government, and 
was watched by gens d'armes; all amber found, even by the peas- 
ants in ploughing, being claimed, the finder, however, receiving 
one-tenth of its value. For the piece in the Berlin Museum, 
weighing eighteen pounds, the finder received a thousand dollars. 

Until ten years ago, during stormy weather, when the waves 
were beaten against the banks of this coast, the amber was 
thrown up in quantities, entangled in the seaweeds, and a hundred 
hands were ever ready to intercept it with their nets, a trying 
occupation, as the roughest storms yielded the richest booty. Of 
late years the diving apparatus has been used so successfully that 
the marine deposit has been greatly diminished, and systematic 
mining is now carried on inland, where the amber is much finer. 

The price of amber has increased during the last year, and this 
advance is caused by the diminution of the yearly product, many 
of the pachters, or renters, having thrown up their contracts and 
abandoned the business of mining on that account. 

It was in this famed locality of Samland, so favorable for geo- 
logical survey that Prof. Zaddach of the University of Konigs- 
burg, pursued his investigations relating to the birthplace of 
amber, and his report throws great light upon this vexed 
question. 

Taking a section of the cliffs where the geological structure is 
exposed, he finds that wherever the Tertiary formation crops out, 
it always comprises two different deposits. The underlying con- 
sisting of thick beds of glauconitic sand, which sometimes attains 
a height of sixty feet above the sea level, and upon this rest the 
beds of the Brown Coal formation, from sixty to a hundred feet 
thick. Under the green sand lies the sorcalled amber earth, only 
from four to six feet thick, and underneath this the "Wilde Erde," 
so called because containing no amber. 

Sometimes the beds of green sand are cemented by hydrated 
oxyd of iron into a coarse sandstone which often contains well- 
preserved fossils representing the Tertiary period, but as this gl ;lll ~ 
conitic sand is a marine formation, it follows that the amber it 
contains does not lie in its original bed— that is, not in the soil of 
the old forest in which the amber pines grew — but that the amber 
was washed into the sea in which sea urchins and crabs lived. 



i88o.] 



Concerning Amber. 



In the sand of the amber beds are found numerous pebbles or 
pieces of compact stone, which is evidently the parent rock of the 



Erratic Rocks. 




Glauconitic Sand. 



quartz bound together by a marly cement. The amb 
abounds in fragments of rock known as chalk marl 
tain Cretaceous fossils. 

The same rock is found on the Island of Bornholn 



[ 84 Concerning A mbcr. [March, 

tic, and belongs to the Cretaceous. It is therefore proved that 
the Tertiary glauconitic sand has been made up of the green sand 
of the Cretaceous formation. Therefore the trees yielding the am- 
ber resin must have grown upon the green sand beds of the Cre- 
taceous which then formed the shores of the estuary where the 
lower division of the Tertiary accumulated. Zaddach assumes 
that at that time the coast sank slowly, and the forest soil being 
washed by the waves the amber was carried into the sea. 

Immediately over these amber-producing strata rest the beds of 
the Brown Coal formation, the fossil plants of which differ entirely 
from the amber flora. Finally, Prussia was laid dry by an up- 
heaval of the rocks, and this ended for a time the recorded history 
of the country. 

Now ensued a new period in the geological history of Samland, 
when the climate and all the conditions of the country were 
changed. The mountains of the north which projected out of the 
sea were covered with glaciers that extended down to the water. 

Icebergs laden with the finer debris of rocks and blocks of 
stone, were detiched from these glaciers and drifted to the south, 
passing over land formed of Cretaceous strata. Without doubt 
there remained a considerable deposit of amber upon this green 
sand bed of the Cretaceous formation where the old forest soil 
still existed. By the icebergs this soil was now broken up and 
the amber brought down and scattered in every direction. 

Thus the fact is explained that amber nests are found in the 
quaternary deposits over all the plains of northern Europe. 

This epitome of Prof. Zaddach's report seems to settle the 
question as to the birthplace of amber in Germany, and contra- 
dicts entirely the generally received opinion that it is the Droduct 
of the Brown Coal formation, and also the theory of Dr. Feucht- 
wanger, that marine amber was a later deposit or formation than 

It is apparent that the gum of the amber trees flowed out as a 
viscid sap to which all small objects, leaves, twigs, insects, etc., 
that came in contact with it adhered. Subsequent exudation cov- 
ered these and preserved them more perfectly than was possible 
by any other method. In this way vast numbers of insects were 
hermetically sealed up, over eight hundred species having been 
discovered and many groups yet remaining to be studied . 

These give us much interesting information in regard not only 



i88o.] Concerning Amber. 185 

to the insect life of the amber age, but afford valuable information 
in regard to the history of many of our living species and groups 
(see Heer's description of amber insects). These species are now 
mostly extinct but have affinity with tropical forms. A very in- 
teresting collection of these most ancient mummies can be seen in 
the British Museum. A classic spider is at Amherst, and in my 
own collection is a lizard so perfectly embalmed that the animal 
tissues can be seen, as also the liquid contained in the stomach; this 
little curio has the honor of having been christened by Prof. 
Agassiz. 

Prof. H. R. Goeppert has made a study of the remains of plants 
found in amber, and has identified one hundred and sixty-three 
species, all of which are now extinct. Mr. Kaldenberg, of New 
York, has specimens of amber containing bark, water and various 

After mining, amber is kept temporarily in vaults near the am- 
ber localities. Rosa narrates that he entered one of the vaults of 
the Pachter Douglas, where he saw the yearly products arranged 
according to their size and quality in chests and baskets, and saw 
records containing the yearly results back to 1 500. The worth 
of the pieces varies according to the size and perfection. 

For the trade it is divided into classes, the best pieces being 
generally sent in the rough to Constantinople, where they are 
used for the mouth-pieces of pipes, as it is still believed there that 
amber possesses properties preventing contagion, and as the pipes 
of this case-loving people are lighted by domestics, the amber tips 
to the long stems are considered a prudent caution. This trade 
with Constantinople is very ancient and still continues over the 
same route as a thousand years ago. 

The smaller sized pure pieces are used for beads and the very 
impure for the distillation of succinic acid, the residue or refuse 
13 the colophonium-succini employed in the preparation of varnish. 
The varnish made from amber has long been considered the finest, 
but other resins are now its rivals, and varied are the secrets of 
this prosperous trade. With amateurs at work all over the land 
we may hope that even the secret of Stradivarius may yet come 
to light! 

The chemical analyses of all resins, both fossil and recent, differ 
ver y slightly. Certain varieties of amber, copal, mastic, etc, giv- 





Concerning Amber. 


[March, 


nearly the sarr 


ie atomic ratio as will be st 


;en from the follow- 


table : 







Amber may be distinguished from the other resins by its hard- 
ness, its lesser brittleness and the much higher temperature re- 
quired to reduce it, and also its greater electric action, but the 
difference is quickly discovered in the attempt to cut and polish, 
as the ordinary resins become in the process so heated and soft- 
ened as in a measure to prevent their use for ornamental pur- 
poses. Copal jewelry is, however, occasionally made, but it soon 

A property of amber not generally known is its flexibility at 
certain temperatures. Formerly when amber required bending 
it was softened by placing it in warm linseed oil, and it could then 
be bent in to a required form. For changing the form of amber 
the method at present used in our extensive manufactory in this 
city, is simply to hold the amber over a lamp and draw it out 
slowly by hand. Although this process is very difficult and slow, 
the results are marvelous. 

A pipe-stem nineteen inches long has been in this way drawn 
out of a coil of amber about six by four inches in size or fifteen 
inches in circumference. 

At the same' factory can be seen all the process of working am- 
ber which, owing to its low degree of hardness, is wrought with the 
turning lathe after having first been cut with a knife and filed into 
something approaching the form required. It is then polished in 
the lathe or by hand with pumice stone, whiting and alcohol. 
The clippings and amber dust left from the cutting are used for 
varish or incense. The Orientals, especially the Chinese, con- 
sider the burning of the odoriferous amber the highest mark of 
respect possible to pay a stranger or distinguished guest, and the 
more they burn the more marked is their expression of esteem. 



1 880.] Concerning Amber. 1 87 

We find in King's work on gems, the following : " A large 
amber cup, holding half a pint, has lately been discovered depos- 
ited in a tumulus in Ireland, which, from its size could hardly 
have been cut out of a single block of that substance. It has 
been ascertained by experiment that bits of amber boiled in tur- 
pentine can be reduced to a paste, united and molded into any 
form desired." 

In Feuchtwanger on gems, we also find similar assertions re- 
garding the melting and reforming of amber. Both King and 
Feuchtwanger are in error on this point. If amber were ever 
thus melted and molded, the art has certainly been lost. 

Repeated experiments have failed to produce such a result, 
although a recent German scientific journal informs us that a 
patent for such a discovery has been applied for. An art so 
valuable, if successful, would certainly insure a fortune to the in- 
ventor. Nor is it necessary to have recourse to such a theory in 
order to account for the cup exhumed from the Irish tumulus. 
Alexander, Czar of all the Russians, owns a tea-set cut from 
blocks of this precious material. I have seen rough specimens 
both in the Berlin and Vienna museums larger than would have 
been required for the cup alluded to. 

The imitations of amber are various. Glass paste is sometimes 
used, another composition is of turpentine and caoutchouc, still 
another, linseed oil, gum mastic and litharge, to which finely 
powdered copal is added to give the appearance of veins, add to 
this, ants of decalcomania, and we have the material of the cigar- 
holders which so deceived the uninitiated during our exhibition at 
Philadelphia. The most perfect imitation is the uncolored cellu- 
loid. Abbe Hauy gives the following mode of detecting or 
identifying amber : " Attach a fragment to a knife, and when in- 
flamed the amber will burn with some noise and ebulition, but 
without liquifying so as to flow, whereas all other resins and 
compositions melt and drop." A better method is perhaps the 
electrometer. 

Very little amber has as yet been found in the United States. 
Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, Camden, N. J., and Cape Sable 
°nly are mentioned as its localities. A barrel full of small pieces 
was taken out of the green sand in New Jersey, which through 
some mistake was burned. 

Let us hope for the accident which may yet reveal to us hidden 



stores of this interesting substance with a less primitive fate in 
reserve for it. 

While the color of amber is generally yellow it occurs in all 
shades, from pure white to "black." The Falernian, from the 
wine of that name, was the favorite color among the Romans. 
Dice of the white variety are hardly distinguishable from ivory. 

At Constantinople a pipe-stem of the milk-white variety is 
prized by the Turks at from forty to a hundred dollars. The 
action of sulphuric acid on the yellow changes it to red. A 
beautiful specimen of green amber has been found on the Ameri- 
can coast. " Black amber," which was a vexed question in the 
middle ages, returns to question us again to-day. Monsieur le 
Conte de Borch, in his letters from Sicily, within the last decade, 
says that " black amber is common." 

Stretter, the latest English authority on gems, also gives black 
amber; but a very careful analysis of the black amber which has 
recently been imported from Spain to be manufactured in New 
York, gives: Carbon, 82.57 ; hydrogen, 7.70; oxygen and nitro- 
gen, 9.08 ; ash, .65. A result so different from true amber, and 
on distillation yielding no succinic acid, is, therefore, not true 
amber, but either a superior variety of jet or a highly oxidized 
bitumen. In chemical composition it seems to occupy an inter- 
mediate position between cannel coal and torbanite. 

Subjected to the microscope, woody fibre is visible, replaced in 
part by resin. Its electric power is great, and admitting as it 
does of a remarkable polish, its lightness well adapts it for orna- 
mental purposes. 

Among the old accounts of journeyings in search of amber, 
we find the first mention of the Teutons as a race. As the search 
for an " El Dorado " led to voyages of discovery in later times, 
so we find that voyages and pilgrimages to the land of amber 
were made dating back to 1500 years before Christ. Peschel 
says, " Preach aloud the fact that the migrations o f nations 
depend on the existence of the substantial treasures of the earth." 
So this Prussian paradise had been visited by Pythias of Mas- 
silena four hundred years before Christ, also by Theophrastus, 
the naturalist and philosopher, and by Philomen, the Greek poet. 
Nero sent there his Roman knights, who brought back quanti- 
ties of amber to enrich his treasury, and a small image in this 
precious material was valued higher than a human slave. 



i88o.] Concerning Amber. 189 

Amber was intermingled with the myths and religion of the 
Greeks, their legends ascribing its origin to 

.« * * * * the sweet tears shed 
By fair Heliades— Apollo's daughters, 

In Euxine waters." 

Amber literature is of great interest to the virtuoso. Books in 
all languages refer to its many supposed qualities, and the insects 
contained in it have given rise to many quaint metaphors which 
still exist. Martial (A. D. 43) wrote in Latin: "The bee is 
inclosed and shines preserved in a tear of the sisters of Phaeton, 
so it seems enshrined in its own nectar. It has obtained a wor- 
thy reward for its great toils — we may suppose that the bee itself 
would have desired such a death." 

Thomas May (1640) thus translates this : 



Hay in the same century translates it thus : 

Such might shi- u Ul, in 1, ivr 'her monument." 

Sir John Denham (1640) wrote of streams, 

" Whose foam is amber and whose gravel gold." 

In the Nibelungen Lied we find Hagentronje with his amber 
girdle ; the dragon's blood armor of Siegfried is also supposed 
to have been amber ; and Brunhilde mentions the amber-colored 

Byron alludes to amber in the u Island," and Pope speaking of 
Sir Plume, 

Also in his prologue to the satires, 



Milton apostrophizes a bee in amber, and Moore revels in amber 
imagery. 

Modern authors have written of the weird " amber witch," and 
°f "amber gods," and to-day a lizard in amber is thus addressed: 



Editors' Table. [March, 



"Who pinioned thy grotesque and uncouth 
Within the sunshine of this golden cha 

Is this the fountain whence the nectar car 

•• Splay-footed sprawler from the unknown 



So questions the poet, but if we might invoke this " Ancient 
Mariner" from out his crystal coffin, more serious would be the 
questions we would bid him solve. 

But though speechless, he bears a silent witness, for as one of 
the many hieroglyphics of the language of geology, underneath 
its Rosetta wand, he helps to reveal the history of our earth. 

Thrice happy the gifted mortal, who, wielding this magic 
wand, can lift the veil and translate these mystic symbols of the 
too long " dusky past." 



EDITORS' TABLE. 
editors: a. s. Packard, jr., and e. d. cope. 

We recommend to the attention of members of the 

National Congress who are interested in the intellectual progress 
of the country, the character of the tariff on specimens, apparatus 
and books necessary for instruction in the sciences. These objects 
are only allowed to enter the country free of duty when not 
intended for sale. This practically prohibits any but wealthy 
citizens and institutions from possessing collections of the natural 
products of all parts of the earth excepting the United States, a 
restriction extremely disadvantageous in all directions. The 
majority of American students are not able to visit Europe for 
the purpose of making purchases, nor are they able to pay the 
increased rates which must be demanded by dealers who should 
bring their specimens here. The result is that foreign collections 
from all parts of the world pass by our country to go to the various 
European cities, large and small. This is one of the causes to 
which we can ascribe the ignorance of natural history which is so 
general in American Society as compared with that of Germany 
and some other parts of Europe. The amount of revenue derived 
from such importations must be practically nothing, while the 



1 88o.] Editors' Table. 191 

injury to useful pursuits and amusements is great. All such 
objects should be allowed to enter the country free of duty. 

It has again become the unpleasant duty of the Phila- 
delphia Board of Education to report where and how another 
reduction of the salaries of the teachers shall be made. We had 
hoped that they would have reported that no reduction was prac- 
ticable. Philadelphia has long enjoyed the unenviable preemi- 
nence of paying its teachers less than any city of importance in 
the country. It is true that owing to the exigencies of the times 
two or three years ago, the salaries were lowered in several of our 
cities, but now that times have changed, the original rates should 
be restored. Instead of this our city-governors \v ; sh to reduce the 
figures still lower. If the former situation was discreditable, what 
shall we say of the present movement? Councilmen perhaps do 
not know that teachers have a market value like any other kind 
of skilled labor, and that the city will get exactly what it pays 
for; also that they can in consequence produce such a community 
as they pay for. If they will only employ poor workmen, or a large 
percentage of such, they will turn out a community which will be- 
come the read)- victims of all the evils that mental development 
and training is able to prevent, and which will not produce those 
intellectual fruits and flowers which so sustain and beautify human 
life. Not but that we have many excellent workmen in our corps 
of teachers to-day, but how long can we expect them to remain in 
a locality or even a profession where they are subjected to such 
vicissitudes. The character of the profession must inevitably 
deteriorate in every way under the present system. 

The work of conscientious teachers under such circumstances 
has been, and is, missionary work, and their recompense the con- 
sciousness of awaking interest in matters tending to benefit 
thousands of pupils and teachers immediately and directly, and 
of affecting the community to be made up of these pupils in the 
future. The interest and zeal and energy of many of the teachers 
have been strong— sufficiently strong to carry them along in spite 
of opposition and obstacles always designed to prevent innova- 
tions and reforms. After a time came a reduction of seven-eights 
Per cent, or $125 in their salaries. At the end of next year the 
■ s cale oi salaries will reduce their salaries again about Si 25, and now 

Si 50. One of the consequences has been that one after another 
of these earnest teachers has lost heart an 1 has dropped out. 
leaving the proposed plans to be worked out by souiebo ly else. 
or to be dropped altogether. Their efforts have not been appre- 
ciated as they should be. If they are not compensated for their 
\m. r scho ° l work, why should they do more work for less pay ? 
Why not render service commensurate with the wages paid ? 



192 Recent Literature. [March, 

Why increase cares and anxiety ? Why not let things move along 
as best they may? What is the use ? 

We fear that a feeling of apathy may fall upon the stronger and 
more zealous teachers, as it has already seized upon the average 
teacher, and is always found with the idle, careless, or incompe- 



RECENT LITERATURE. 

Dana's Manual of Geology, third edition. 1 — The merits of 
this work as a school-book are well known, and in the present 
edition they are decidedly enhanced. This is partly due to the in- 
troduction of the latest determinations in stratigraphic geology in 
the West. We observe with pleasure that Prof. Dana has ad- 
hered with impartial justice to the law of priority in the nomen- 
clature of the formations of the interior of the continent, in spite 
of the attempts made by some writers to introduce names of their 
own, regardless of this necessary safeguard. The value of the 
work is also increased by the introduction' of additional engrav- 
ings, especially of those representing some of Prof. Marsh's dis- 
coveries in the West. It is true the author might have derived 
some aid from other sources, especially as regards the skull of 
Coryphodon, of which he gives a figure which is quite inaccurate. 

We cannot speak in as high terms of the manner in which the 
palaeontology of Vertebrata is represented in the new edition of 
the manual. It displays little acquaintance with what has been 
done in this field in North America since 1872, and that includes 
three-fourths of the entire subject. Thus the greater part of all the 
principal modern discoveries in the Permian, Triassic, Postcre- 
taceous, Suessonian and Pliocene faunse are not alluded to, while 
not a few of those in the Jurassic and Suessonian formations are 
attributed to other than the original discoverers. The nomencla; 
ture employed is that of the vertebrate palaeontological papers 
published in the American Journal of Science and Arts, which is 
notoriously regardless of the rule that names must be only pro- 
posed to represent work done, and may not be proposed to secure 
credit for work yet to be done. It is discouraging to the student to 
be expected to remember names which cannot be used either be- 
cause they are synonymes or do not refer to necessary descrip- 

The Refutation of Darwinism. 2 — This book is an excellent 
illustration, if one were needed, of the futility of persons writing 
on the question of evolution who are not themselves experts in 



u , up n Warren O'Neill, 

dclphia Bar. J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1880. 



1 8 80. J Recent Literature. 

upon Darwin's facts," must of necess: 
for many of the most important evidences for evolution are not to 
be found, or are barely mentioned in Darwin's works. That Dar- 
winism is not the whole doctrine of evolution is perceived clearly 
enough by Mr. O'Neill, who devotes two or three opening chap- 
ters to a lucid exposition of the well known fact that Natural 
Selection does not explain the origin of characters. This truth 
has for twelve years been maintained by the editors of this 
journal, as well as by others, and has been epitomized in the 
statement that " the origin of the fittest " is the primary problem 
of evolution, while the " survival of the fittest" (Darwinism) is 
secondary. 

Mr. O'Neill's " Refutation of Darwinism," however, consists 
principally of a theory of his own, which is an extension of the 
principle of reversion to all kinds of variation now observed in 
domesticated animals ; he does not concern himself so much with 
the wild ones, as they are not so fully considered in Darwin's 
works. In brief, Mr. O'Neill believes that the present condition 
of animals is one of degradation from a condition of primitive 
perfection, which has been brought about by the severity of the 
struggle for existence ! The whole theory is a readaptation of 
modern knowledge to the mediaeval idea of the creation and its 
degradation, consequent on the fall of man. 

There are two little difficulties in the way of this hypothesis. 
Firstly : since the doctrine of evolution is an attempted explana- 
tion of the " origin of species," etc., etc., Mr. O'Neill's work is 
entirely irrelevant, if true. By reversion he only brings us back 
to species in their pristine completeness or "physiological integ- 
rity," as he calls it ; the question of how they attained this con- 
dition is not considered. It is fair to add that Mr. O'Neill prom- 
ises us a work on this subject in a foot note on page 435, which 
will be ; if the author's expectations are realized, a wonderful work 
indeed. 

The second difficulty is presented by the science of palaeon- 
tology. One should look here for the evidences of reversion to 
older types, should such have been the law of the later crea- 
t'on. But Mr. O'Neill does not concern himself with this subject. 
When lie does so he will find his primitive "physiological in- 
tegrity" to be a myth; that development is by divergent advances, 
not by reversion; and that a struggle for existence, not too severe, 
has been an agent of good, not of evil. 

the book is written in a pleasant style and the author is some- 
times witty at Mr. Darwin's expense. 

Hallez's Natural History of Turbellarian Worms. 1 — The 
tn-st of tins series was the elaborate researches on the embryology 

;,;■■■ •■' : 

L ". Lille, 1879. 4to, pp. 213, 11 plates. 



194 Recent Literature. [March, 

of Bryozoa, by J. Barrois ; the present memoir is concerned with 
the structure of several Turbellarian worms, and is particularly 
valuable as giving detailed and well illustrated life histories of 
Eurylcpta aunchlata, ', -.with fragmentary but 

still important embryological details on certain Rhabdocoelous 
worms, with especial reference to the early history of the egg. 
He describes the lasso cells of some of the worms, remarkably like 
those of the jelly-fish, and discusses the process of strobilation in 
a Microstomum. 

Westwood's Synopsis of Uraxiid/E. 1 — This is a finely illus- 
trated essay on the systematic position of this small but interest- 
ing group of moths. By Guenee they were placed at the head of 
the Phalaenidae, in which view he was followed by Packard. Prof. 
Westwood, however, on account of differences in the venation of 
the wings, and the fact that the larvae are not loopers, but have 
sixteen legs instead, or fourteen as with a very few Geometiid lar- 
vae, believes that the group should be placed at a distance from 
the Geometridae and amongst the Bombycidse. 

The Zoological Record for 1877. 2 — This well known publica- 
tion of the Zoological Record Association, and which has now 
become almost absolutely indispensable to working naturalists, 
deserves more than a mere passing notice. Under the heads of 
twenty-two classes and orders, the progress of Zoology for the 
year past in all departments is reviewed by specialists competent, 
from their biblioj: ii>!i > il attainments am! training in their respec- 
tive departments, to carry out the work satisfactorily. Under each 
head the contents of the more important papers, general and 
special, are given with references to their place of publication. 
The mammalia have been done by Edward Richard Alston; 
Aves, by Howard Saunders ; Reptilia and Pisces, by A. W. E. 
O'Shaughnessy ; Mollusca and Molluscoida, by Prof. Edward 
von Martens ; Crustacea, by Prof, von Martens ; Arachnida and 
Myriopoda, by Rev. O. P. Cambridge ; Insecta, general subject, 
by E. C. Rye, together with Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera 
and Rhynchota ; Lepidoptera, by W. F. Kirby ; Neuroptera and 
Orthoptera, bv R. McLachlau ; Vermes, by F. Jeffrey Bell ; Echino- 
dermata and Ccelenterata, by C. F. Lutken ; Spongida and Pro- 
tozoa, by Stuart O. Ridley. Most of these names are exceedingly 
familiar to naturalists and arc a sufficient guarantee of the charac- 
ter of the book. It is a work which may be deservedly encour- 



■ CnnnU.c, a family of UfiUoptereus /,/wA. : 
l/„ V //'/,/ lo^n^on.otthes.nnao,- 






i88o.] Recent Literature. 195 

aged. The subscription price of the annual volumes is £1, 10s, 
to the public. 

Leidy's Rhizopods of North America. 1 — This magnificent 
volume, with its wealth of illustration, is the fruits of four years 
of constant study of the fresh-water Rhizopods of this country. 
The author has not only studied them in the Western Territories, 
but also at various points along the Atlantic coast from Nova 
Scotia to Philadelphia. The Rhizopods are the lowest forms of 
life with the exception of the Monera of Haeckel, of which but 
a single species has been detected by Prof. Leidy in this country. 
As a full and thoroughly well illustrated account of these organ- 
ism this volume will prove of service to the general public inter- 
ested in the discussions regarding protoplasm, for here are pic- 
tured with wonderful accuracy and grace these animated bits of 
protoplasm ; to the teacher, who cannot always command even 
a single Amoeba and much less a series of them, here is presented 
on a single plate the Atnwba protcus in a dozen different attitudes, 
drawn in colors, in some cases half as large as one's hand ; and 
this plate is succeeded by forty-seven colored chromo-lithographs, 
well engraved, though we doubt not falling far short of the ex- 
quisite original sketches of the author, who is not excelled by any 
living naturalist or zoological artist in the accuracy and artistic 
finish of his drawings. 

Moreover the study of these minute changeable protean forms 
is most difficult in itself, and their truthful representation still 
more so. While, then, the volume has a high philosophical and 
educational value, it will stimulate naturalists to cultivate this 
field, and to elucidate the modes of development of these forms. 
To the palaeontologist the work will have a high value, since allied 
or possibly the same shelled forms may be discovered in the lake 
formations of the Western Territories. This work forms, conse- 
quently, one of the most important volumes of final reports of the 
great survey now unfortunately closed, and which has done so 
much to spread among our people a knowledge of the natural re- 
sources of the Western Territories. Biology embraces palaeon- 
tology, the latter is more than half of geology, so that no scien- 
tific geological survey can do its work properly without reference 
to these sciences. The cost to the survey of the field work, the 
press-work, and, we believe, the illustrations of this volume were 
but nominal, the printing of the volume with the necessary illus- 
trations having been separately ordered by Congress. As the author 
states, " Whatever may be thought of the pertinence of publishing 
such works as the present one with the Reports of the (icological 
ourvey of the Territories, to remove any misapprehension in the 
matter I deem it proper to state that my contributions have been 

v' ff'fv'f ° ft '"' Unit " i ' Sv " / ' f ( "'" / "» l ' , '" / ■ s '" ; ' ^r, ' °f t/,e Ti '"' it '''''■ VoL x "' F ; 

LEIL.V, M.I). W.nOiin.rlnn .^-r> .*..,,„ ^,, lSl.1nf.-S. 



196 Recent Literature. [March, 

given without pecuniary recompense. In my own judgment, 
Prof. Hayden has acted with the most enlightened view in author- 
izing and encouraging such natural history investigations as would 
be facilitated by explorations of the country in which his geologi- 
cal surveys were conducted. With the exception of the cost of 
publishing the present report, the only additional expense to which 
I put the survey during my explorations in the West amounted to 
about $222." The same may be said of at least one other of the 
bulky quarto volumes of the survey, and we suppose of others. 

The number of species of these fresh-water Rhizopods living in 
our country is unexpectedly large; numbers of them are common 
to Europe and North America, and many are found not only in the 
Eastern States but also in the lakes of the Uintah mountains of 
Wyoming, showing that the forms are well nigh cosmopolitan. 
They occur in the summer time on the under side of floating leaves 
of water plants and especially among Sphagnum moss. "A drop 
of water squeezed from a little pinch of bog-moss has often yielded 
scores of half a dozen genera and a greater number of species." 

Rkckni F! i.ik, and Pamphlets. —The Microscope in Medicine. By Lionel S. 
Beale, M.B., F.R.S., etc. Foil ted, and much enlarged. 8vo, 

pp. i-xxxi, 1-519- London, Churchill; 1'h. kiston. 1S7S. 



From the author. 

l; iS .. . ■ . ! ■. • "■. < •'■ ; . • ,., . ■ 

1, 1880, pp. 11-20.) From the author. 

Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Terri 
tories, Vol. v, No. 3. 8vo, pp. 331-520. Government Printing office, W.i.hin- 
ton, 1879. From the Survey. 

Hie America] I fournal, Vol. i, No. 1, Jan., 1880. Nev 

York, Thompson & Moreau, 51 and 55 \i,ii,len lane. From the editor. 

James Hector, I | Sector. 8vo, pp. 135, pis! I 

New Zealand, 1879. From the director. 

The Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, July, 1879, Vo1 - «» No 

2. 8vo, pp. 71-118, pis. 9-10. From the society. 

Le Naturaliste. Journal des Echanges et des Nouvelles. ire Annee, No. 16 
Nov. 1879. 4 to, Paris, 23 rue de la Monnaie. Emile Deyrolle, Directeur. 

("unspecius systematicus et geographicus mammalium tarn viventiuin .111011 los 
silium. Catalogue systematique, synonomique et geographique des Mammifere! 

Marius Aubert. Fascicule 1— Primates (SimLv, Prosimae, Chiroptera). 
la Revue et Magi J78.) 8vo, pp. 93. From the aut 

ili residente in Pisa, Pre 

1878 and 1879. 8vo, pp. 63, Sacramento, 1879. From the crftnmissio 
Notes on New England Isopoda. By Oscar Harger. (Proc. U. S. 
seum.) 8vo, pp. 157-165, no date. From the author. 

V. ■■ ■ ■■■■...■■■, ■■ ::. ..■.-■■...■ 



i88o.j Recent Literature. 

Heilprin. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1879, pp. 217-225.) From 



On the species of the genus Bassaris. By J. A. Allen. (Bull. U. S. C 
leog. Surv., Vol. V, No. 3. 1879.) Pages 331-340- F rom the author. 

A History of the Menhaden. By G. Brown Goode. With an accou 
^ricultmal' Uses of the Fish, by W. O. Atwater, and an introduction hni 
abject down to date 8vo, pp. 529, pis. xxx. Orange Judd Co., New Yo 

Zur Eozoon-Frage. Von Dr. Otto Kuntze. (Extr. from « Ausland," 18; 
p. 681-687. From the author. 

Fur das salzfreie Urmeer. Von Dr. Otto Kuntze. (Kosmos, Leipzig. 
879.) Pages 239-244. From the author. 

Resti Fossili della Selache, trovato a ricavapresso Santa Lucenelle Collin 
Ota letta da] Socie Roberto Lawley. 8vo, pp. 8, Pisa, 1879. From Prot. 

Alcune Osservazioni sui Cavalli .ruaternari di C. I. Forsyth Major. 
all' Archivio per l'Antropologia e la Etnologia, Vol. IX, fascicolo i°, 18; 



cer Opoca, tomn [v. .\\,s. 6 y 7? Svo. pp. 321-448. with maps. Mexico, 1879. 

Analcsde laSoci.-dad Espaimla de llistoria Natural. Tomo VIU, cuademo 3 . 
Svo, pp. }.sq_ v , 7 . pis ;. rr 091-202 M.idrul, 1S79. From the society. 

The Chemical News and journal of Physical Science. Edited by Wm. Crookes, 

Chicago Field, Vol. XII, No. 25. Ian. 31, 1880. ( Pages 396-39S. A complete 
list of the published writin.'s of Dr. A. S. t'a, :< 11 !. |r . wi:h ivicrcii. >s and dale- oi 
■SO'tidM.) 

The Formation of 
Farquharson. (Proc 

iood e fis°hes 0f B C Commissioner . for l8 77- P«t V. A--I»qi 

8vo, pp. 9S1, Washington, 1879! From t 





General Notes. [March, 


gr-HE 


le known North American Limnseidae. By A. G. Weth- 
! Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., July, 1879.) ^ages 8. 


? raph of the Silu 
ibertEth ridge, Jr 


rian fossils of the Girvan district in Ayrshire, with spe- 
ined in the "Gray Collection." By H. A'i 

. Fasciculus 11. 1 I rilobit 1. 1'hvll .p A 1, ('imp, dia and 
137-233, Pis. x-xv. Wm. Blackwood & Sons, Edin- 



GENERAL NOTES. 





BOTANY. 


Sexual Differi 
remarks on EpigCBC 
Flora of NortliAn 

" The flowers are 


lNtiation in Epig.ea repens. 1 — The following 
! repens are contained in Gray's " Synoptical 
lerica," under the generic description of that 


: heteromorphous and inclined to be dioecious, 



or dicecio-dimorphous. Those with fully polliniferous anthers 
seldom set fruit; their stigmas short, erect, slightly projecting 
beyond the margin of the five-toothed ring (to the teeth of which 
they are severally adnate), the style sometimes longer than the 
stamens and projecting, sometimes shorter and included. Fully 
fertile flowers on other plants ; their styles (as in the former sort 
sometimes long and exserted, sometimes shorter and included) 
with stigmas elongated and much surpassing the ring, short, linear, 
glutinous, radiately divergent ; their stamens either slightly pol- 
liniferous, or reduced to abortive filaments, or even wanting." 

In the early spring of this year I took occasion to make some 
careful observations on this plant as it occurs in the vicinity of 
Washington City, the results of which, though in the main con- 
firmatory of this description, differ from it in some respects, and 
afford some additional facts of special interest. 

I desire to premise that these variances and additional peculiari- 
ties are doubtless due to differences of habit in different localities, 
and not to any lack of fidelity in description. 

The principal deviation which I detected from the description 
which I have quoted, was in the styles and stigmas. I found 
no heterostyly ; the length of the styles relatively to the flowers 
was about the same at all times in both forms of flowers. The 
stigma, however, presented a very different appearance in one 
form from what it did in the other. In the fertile form, in which 
the abortive stamens varied in all degrees, the lobes of the style 
were strongly divergent and of a firm texture, with evident 
stigmatic surfaces. In the staminate form they were, never sepa- 
rated, but cohered tightly in an apparently solid club-shaped sum- 
mit or head. I was able, however, to dissect them apart without 

toga, N. V., September i, 1879, by Lester F. Ward, A.M. 



1880.] Botany. 199 

lesion, and satisfy myself that they were entirely functionless, 
possessing no stigmatic surfaces. 

The important addition which my observations furnished to 
the facts described by Prof. Gray, consisted in the discovery that 
the dimorphism of the flowers extends in a marked degree to 
their dimensions. The staminate flowers are, in all respects, 
much larger than the fertile ones. As this fact at first appeared 
quite remarkable, I took great pains to verify it, making my com- 
parisons from specimens taken from localities widely separated, 
and repeating the observations a great many times throughout 
the flowering season of the plant. It grows on gravelly slopes in 
small areas or patches, and all the flowers in a patch were inva- 
riably found to be of the same kind, either all staminate or all 
fertile, as if all came from the same root, as no doubt they do. 

The amount of surface covered by staminate plants was found 
greatly to exceed that covered by the fertile ones. It thus often 
required considerable search to find a patch of fertile flowers, but 
a little practice was sufficient to render their detection easy from 
the diminished size and conspicuousness'of the flowers. This 
difference does not consist merely in the greater vigor and 
turgidity of the staminate form, but represents an actual discrep- 
ancy in the measurements of all the parts of the flower, amount- 
ing to about thirty per cent, in the length and about forty per cent. 
>n the width of the corolla. The exact dimensions, as taken from 



l-ci^i 



The staminate form appears never to develop fruit, although 
the ovary contains ovules. The fertile form, besides being much 
more rare in actual amount at flowering time, and possessing 
decidedly less fragrance, also often fails to fruit. It is, therefore. 
°n'y quite rardv that fruiting specimens can be found. 1 attrib- 
ute this, however, to the failure of most of the fertile flowers to 
receive any pollen. The two forms are often not in close prox- 
imity. They bloom very early in the spring, before most of the 
•' :il h m< < t appear. I he flowers are always close to the ground, 
with their open end more frequeiitlv inclining downward than 
upward, and most of them are concealed under the foliage so as to 



200 General Notes. [March, 

be invisible from above. Yet, as we have seen, their self-fertilization 
is impossible. These and other facts have led me to the conclu- 
sion that, where fertilized at all, it is chiefly done by ants, which, 
on the theory, now generally accepted by entomologists, of the 
possession by that insect of a keen sense of smell, would suffi- 
ciently account for the exquisite fragrance of the flowers of 
Epigaea. I have failed entirely to find insects within the corolla, 
but this, so far from causing doubts that it is fertilized by insect 
agency, simply helps us to understand why it bears fruit so 
sparingly. 

The facts which I have stated, even if they were entirely new, 
which they probably are not, might not, perhaps, in themselves 
have justified me in claiming for them the attention of this asso- 
ciation. For my own part I am far more interested in the 
important principles which tiny illustrate, and it is for the pur- 
pose of stating these principles, supported by such an example, 
that I have been led to present the facts. 

Besides affording an instructive example of the many ways in 
which plants are dependent upon inset ts, Kpigxa well illustrates 
the process of sexual differentiation winch is going on in a great 
many species of plants. In the maples it has not yet advanced 
so far ; in Smilax it has gone somewhat farther, while in the wil- 
low it has reached completeness. It is in these intermediate stages 
that the phenomena are most interesting, and the botanist, con- 
templating a great number of these, differing by small degrees, can 
almost see the process in operation. The phenomena of dimorph- 
ism, as it exists in lfoustonia, must probably be regarded as one 
of the initial steps in the direction of ultimate dicecism, or com- 
plete separation of the sexes. 

In this respect, as in many others, we find that nature cannot 
be assumed to have reached its fin,;! and fixed condition, but that 
the 



he existin; 


g state o 


f things must 


be reg< 


irded as dynamic ; the 


novements 


in 


the 


past which 


have m 


ade things 


what they 








) effect change 


js in th. 


em. Then 


; is a sort of 


mifcrmi!^ 


'•an is 


m in 


biology as wt 


:11 as in ; 


geology, an 


d the law of 












r the existii 




>f plants ai 


id ai 


lima 


Is as it is that 


of coast 


lines or m 


ountains. ^ 


Hermapl 


irodi 


tism 


, or self-fecun 


datinn, s 


eems to be 


• a thraldom 


lecessary a 


t th. 


■ out 


set, but from which all 


living tin. 


igs are seek- 


ng to esc; 


tpe. 


ill 






as, for the 




hrown off 


this 


y,l 


:e, chiefly thn 


mgh th 


e devclopi 


nent of the 


exii.tl \\\A\ 


net. 


Th 


e vegetable w. 


arid still 


I groans h< 


avily under 












iberators, ; 


md the little 


lower whic 


h I 


hav 


e figured here 


, shows 


one of the 


many ways 


n which th 


esc i 




ures perform 1 


:lus serv 


ice. 





i88o.] Botany. 201 

The Agency of Insects in Fertilization. 1 — I present some 
additional notes taken from papers prepared by some of my young 
students while working under my direction. 

Mr. A. J. Chappell studied a healthy plant of Ly thrum salicana. 
The flowers of the species are trimorphous. "The plant studied 
was one which produced short stamens and those of medium 
length and a long style. In the bkd, these organs are bent or 
curved so that the anthers and stigmas are included within the 
calyx. The anthers all ripen at about the same time, sometimes 
before the flower opens. 

Bees visit the plant freely. Their heads are covered with pol- 
len from the stamens ; the thorax with pollen from the stamens 
of medium length. 

Some of the pollen thus collected on the insect is carried to the 
long pistils. Pollen was found on all the stigmas, but Mr. Chap- 
pell observed that after a few days each pistil in turn after the 
flower had opened, wilted and fell off. 

Mr. E. A. Murphy found several kinds of insects about the Ly- 
thrum above mentioned. He was also surprised to see all the pistils, 
after they had been exposed for a few days, wilt and fall off. The 
plant was making a fair growth, and did not suffer from drv 
weather or a surplus of moisture. 

Mr. J. T. Elliott studied Apocynum androsamifolium. The anthers 
are shaped somewhat like an arrow-point. All the anthers form 
a sort of pyramid about the pistils. An abundance of honey 
attracts many insects. The groove between the lobes of the an- 
thers often catch and hold small bees by the tongue, much as 
a tapering crack between two boards would hold a rope. Small 
wild bees pull out the masses of pollen which come in pairs. 

Some flowers were tied up to keep all insects away. In some 
cases after a few days, the bell-shaped corolla was full and over- 
flowing with nectar. These were artificially fertilized, some with 
pollen of the same flower ; others with pollen from other flowers. 
Some were kept covered without artificial aid in transferring pol- 
len. All were covered again. Those pistils where the stigmas 
were supplied with pollen set fruit. 

Mr. W. A. Burgess tried similar experiments with similar re- 
Mr. J. H. Irish observed the flowers of catmint. When the 
anthers are discharging their pollen, they are clustered around 
and a little above the pistil. When the pistil is ready to secure the 
pollen, it reaches above the stamens and spreads its stigmas apart. 
At this time the anthers are dead and slightly curled down. The 
stigmas are just in position to touch the back of an insect where 
« has previously collected pollen from anthers of a younger flower. 

„' Xi)!l ' s f , rom some of the papers of students at Michigan A-ricultural College. Ah- 
""■acts made by Prof. W. J. Beal. 



202 General Notes. [March, 

In several cases, flowers were tied up with sarles which kept insects 
away. No seeds set. 

Insects fertilize Nepeta nuda in the same manner as they do 

Mr. Geo. Young found that the flowers of Nepeta mnssiui were 
also proterandrous and that they were fertilized essentially in the 
same way as the two species above mentioned. He sprinkled 
some chalk dust on the back of a bee and soon found that it had 
come back for more honey. Salvia Japonica, Teucrium Cana- 
deusc, thyme, and motherwort were fertilized in the same manner. 

A number of spikes of Teucrium before flowering were tied 
up in bags. None of these" set seeds. Other spikes were tied 
up in a similar way. The latter were several times violently 
shaken without taking off the covers. This caused about one- 
fifth of the flowers to set seeds. 

The fertilization of Plantagq lanceolata and P. major have before 
been described. The flowers are in spikes. The pistils appear 
some time before the stamens which are long and reach some 
distance up the spike. The pollen is dry and the plant is usually 
described as dependent on the wind for aid in transferring from 
one flower to another. 

Several students have seen honey bees and other wild bees, 
bugs and flies in considerable numbers about the flowers of P'an- 
tago lanceolata. These insects, except the bugs, seem to be after 
the pollen. 

Mr. Avery covered buds of Asclepias cornuti and they set no 
fruit. Not all insects about this plant aid in the fertilization. He 
saw some insects held fast by pollen which they were not stout 
enough to pull out. Some left their legs and had escaped. Ants 
get fast sometimes. They were seen to liberate their feet with 
their jaws. 

Mr. L. Wilcox found the flowers of the common teasel prote- 
randrous and dependent on various insects for fertilization. 

Mr. H. I. Penoyer finds that the flowers of Mimidus ringens are 
not self-fertilizing but depend on the aid of insects. Detailed ex- 
periments were made to prove the statement. 

Mr. J. E. Coulter removed the young stamens from flowers of 
Scrophularia nodosa and found that the pistils were fertilized in 
some way by receiving pollen from other flowers. He also tied 
up some flowers with paper bags and found that they did not set 
fruit. Mr. J. R. Shelton removed the stamens from rive opening 
buds, and tied over them a paper bag. After a few days they be- 
gan to enlarge and develop seeds. He covered five buds not ar- 
tificially fertilized and they set no fruit. This plant is proteran- 
drous and well described and illustrated in Dr. Gray's neat little 
book, " How Plants Behave." 

Mr. W. E. Hale found that the flower buds of Campanula ro- 
tundifolia all blasted if tied in paper sacks. It has often been 



I 880.] Botany. 203 

shown that the stamens shed their pollen on the outside of the 
style before the stigmas are open. 

Mr. VV. H. Goss tied paper sacks about flowers of Lobelia 
spicata ; none of them bore seeds. From others he cut away the 
young anthers while very small. The latter were left ex- 
posed and all fruited. 

Mr. C. A. Ward, on the flowers of Martynia proboscidia has 
seen bumble bees, honey bees and another wild bee. Bumble 
bees were seen to enter the flowers. The stigmas closed before the 
bees backed out. The quickest time observed for the closing of 
the stigmas was three seconds. It took this six minutes to 
open again. The longest time for closing of stigmas was twelve 
seconds, and this occurred on a cool, cloudy day. He says, " It 
always took twice as many minutes to open as it did seconds to 
close. After about five trials made in succession, the stigmas re- 
fused to act, as if they were tired out." 

Mrs. F. A. Gulley, during two weeks of very hot, dry weather, 
watched a patch of white clover, every day at different times, and 
never saw an insect near it. At the end of that time, she exam- 
ined fifty of the heads, twenty-eight of which had no seeds. In 
the other twenty-two heads there were two or three, and some- 
times five or six of the flowers which contained seeds. Previous 
to diy weather, bumble-bees were abundant on the flowers and 
these .seeded freely. 

Mr. E. A. Burke studied the flowers of Indian corn. In nearly 
all cases, the pollen begins to fall two or three days before the 
stigmas appear. The first pollen is discharged from the central 
spike of the tassel and last at the base of the lower or side spikes. 
The plant sheds pollen continuously for five to eight days. Small 
bugs seem to be after the pollen. 

Mr. A. C. Redding also studied Indian corn. In forty-eight 
cases out of fifty, the staminate flowers appeared from two to . 
three days before the pistillate flowers. The anthers shed pollen 
within twenty-four hours after they appeared. The pistils are 
ready to be fertilized in a few hours" after they appear. To prove 
this, he tied cloths over the whole ear after the pistils had been 
out for a few hours. In each case the ovules developed. He 
also tied up some before the stigmas appeared and fertilized 
th em artificially. The kernels all set. 

Bees, wasps and other bugs visit the stamens. If the stigmas 
are soon ready for fertilizathm after tliev appear, they are in near- 
y ?i Cases cross ed by pollen from other stalks. 

Mr. A. G. Jack observed the flowers of EpUobium coloratum. 
t ,s well known th it /;'. an^ustit 1- pr< terandrous or .it least 

most of the stamens are ripe before the stigmas appear. The 
ormer plant under consideration .has four petals which are two- 
10 bea. It has eight stamens, four of which are long and four 
MUWt The four long stamens grow up close to the stigma and 



204 General Notes. [March, 

adhere to it, where they discharge their pollen before withering. 
The four short stamens grow only about half way to the stigma. 
At no stage of their growth could he find them any longer. Both 
sets of stamens discharge their pollen at the same time. The short 
stamens are attached to the base of the petals and when. the 
flowers close, the petals coming together draw the anthers of the 
short stamens up to the base of the stigmas. Occasionally a 
small green bee came to the flowers, but they all left at once, as 
though they had made a mistake. He tied up buds before they 
were open, and found that the flowers all set seeds freely. 

Mr. C. H. Osband finds that the sensitive stigmas of the flow- 
ers of trumpet-creepers close in about three seconds after being 
touched and open in five minutes. Both insects and humming 
birds aid in fertilization. 



recent communication to the Berlin Academy of Sciences, by Dr. 
Pringsheim, which appears to throw considerable fresh light on 
the function of chlorophyll in the life of the plant. 

Having been led by previous researches to the conclusion that 
important results might be obtained by the use of intense light, he 
combined an apparatus by which the object under view should be 
brightly and constantly illuminated by a strong lens and a helio- 
stat. If in this way an object containing chlorophyll — a moss- 
leaf, fern-prothalium, chara, conferva, or thin section of a leaf of a 
phanerogam — be observed, it is seen that great charges are pro- 
duced in a period varying from three to six or more minutes. 

The first and most striking result is the complete decomposi- 
tion of the chlorophyll, so that in a few minutes the object appears 
as if it had been lying for some days in strong alcohol. Although 
however, the green color has disappeared, the corpuscles retain 
their structure essentially unaltered. The change then gradual- 
ly extends to the other constituents of the cell ; the circulation of 
the protoplasm is arrested; the threads of protoplasm are ruptured 
and the nucleus displaced; the primordial utricle contracts and 
becomes permeable to coloring matters ; the turgidity of the cell 
ceases ; and the cell presents, in short, all the phenomena of death. 

That these effects are not due to the action of the high tempera- 
ture to which the cell is exposed under these circumstances is 
shown by the fact that they are produced by all the diff -rent parts 
of the visible spectrum. The result is the same whether the light 
has previously passed through a red solution of iodine in carbon 
bisulphide, through a blue ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide, or 
through a green solution of cupric chloride. If the carbon disul- 
phide solution of iodine be so concentrated that only rays of a 
greater wave-lengtlrthan 0.00061 mm. can pass tnrough it, these 
effects are not produced, although about eighty per cent, of the 
heat of white sunlight is transmitted. On the other hand, if the 



1 38a] Botany. 205 

ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide be so concentrated that the 
whole of the rays of a less wave-length than 0.0005 1 mm - are ab- 
sorbed, a rapid and powerful effect is produced, although the 
amount of heat that passes is very small. It is thus seen that the 
phenomena in question are not the result of heat. 

The next point determined by Dr. Pringsheim, is, that the 
effects are not produced in an atmosphere devoid of oxygen. This 
was the case whether the oxygen was replaced by pure hydrogen 
or by a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide ; while the re- 
moval of the carbon dioxide from atmospheric air was altogether 
without effect on the phenomena. The conclusion drawn is 
that the decomposition of chlorophyll in the living plants is 
a process of combustion which is influenced and promoted by 
the action of light, and which is not related to the decom- 
position of carbon dioxide by the plant. When the green 
color of the chlorophyll-grains has been partially destroyed, it 
cannot be restored, even though the cell continues to live ; from 
which it is inferred that the result is not a normal physiological, but 
a pathological effect. No substance was found in the cells which 
might be regarded as the product of the decomposition of the 
chlorophyll, nor was any oil or starch detected in the etiolated 
cell, nor any formation of grape-sugar or dextrine. The assump- 
tion is therefore that the products of decomposition are given off 
in the gaseous form. 

The conclusion is drawn that the decomposition produced in 
the protoplasm, and in the other colorless cell contents, is the 
direct effect of the photochemical action of light. That it is not 
due to the injurious influence of the products of decomposition 
of the coloring matter of the chlorophyll, is shown by the fact 
that it takes place equallv in cells destitute of chlorophyll, such 
as the hairs on the filaments of Tradescantia, the stinging hairs of 
the nettle, &c. It is, on the other hand, dependent on the pres- 
ence of oxygen, or is a phenomenon of combustion. 

The results of a variety of experiments leads Dr. Pringsheim 
to the important and interesting conclusion that the chlorophyll 
acts as a protective substance to the protoplasm against the inju- 
rious influence of light, diminishing the amount of combustion, 
°r, «n other words, acting as a regulator of respiration. 

He then proceeds to investigate what are the substances which 
become oxidized in the process of respiration. In every cell, 
Without exception, that contains chlorophvll. Pringsheim finds a 
^tance that can be extracted by immersion n dilute hydro- 
gives the name h v, •///<</■/// or hv* linwivl, .\m\ whi\ h he believes 
to be the primary product of the assimilation of the chlorophyll. 
It occurs in the form of minute viscid drops or masses of a semi- 
fluid consistency, which gradually change i 
imperfectly crystalline needles. It ' 



206 General Notes. [March, 

turpentine and benzol, but insoluble in water and in a solution of 
sodium chloride. It becomes gradually oxidized on exposure to 
an imperfectly crystalline resinous substance. It is probably an 
ethereal oil, and an invariable accompaniment of the coloring sub- 
stance of chlorophyll, and even more universally distributed than 
starch or oil. It has not yet been detected in those plants which 
do not contain true green chlorophyll, such as the Phycochroma- 
ceae, Diatomaceae, Fucaceae and Florideas. Starch and oil appear 
to be reserve substances produced by the oxidation of the hypo- 
chlorin caused by light, it being the most readily oxidizable con- 
stituent of the cell, more so even than chlorophyll itself. 

That the hypochlorin — present in variable quantity in every 
chlorophyll grain under normal circumstances — is subject to con- 
tinual increase and decrease, may be proved without difficulty. 
All comparative observations on chlorophyll grains in younger 
and in older conditions, point unmistakably to the conclusion 
that the collection and increase of the starch enclosed in the 
ground substance of the chlorophyll, goes on pari passu with a 
decrease of the hypochlorin. In dark, the hypochlorin, which 
does not take any direct part in the transport of food materials, 
is more permanent than starch ; and this fact again is in agree- 
ment with the conclusion that its transformation in the cell into 
more highly oxidized bodies is hindered by the increased respira- 

In the facts here detailed, and the conclusions derived from 
them, Dr. Pringsheim believes that an entirely new light is thrown 
on the cause of the well-known fact that assimilation takes place 
only in those cells of the plant which contain chlorophyll. This 
substance acts universally as a moderator of respiration by its' 
absorptive influence on light, and hence allows the opposite phe- 
nomena of respiration and elimination of carbon dioxide to go on 
in those cells which contain it. A more detailed account of the 
experiments, and results is promised by the author in a future 
paper— Alfred IV. Bennett. 

ZOOLOGY. 1 

Bundles of Snakes.— The statements made by Humboldt as 
to the piles of snakes he saw in Guiana, can be verified here in 
our northern woods and swamps. I personally had the pleasure 
of observing it twice, both times very early in spring, and in loca- 
tions which could be called wildernesses. 1 first saw such a bun- 
dle of snakes in the neighborhood of Ilchester, Howard Co., Md., 
on the stony bank of the Patapsco river, heaped together on a 



1 880.J Zoology. 207 

brought them together. Some hundreds of them could be 
counted, and all of them I found in a lively state of humor, hiss- 
ing at me with threatening glances, with combined forces and 
with such a persistency that stones thrown upon them could not 
stop them nor alter the position of a single animal. They would 
make the proper movements and the stone would roll off. All 
the snakes in this lump were common snakes {Eutu'iiia sir- 
talis L.). The second time I noticed a ball of black snakes (Bas- 
canion constrictor L.) rolling slowly down a steep and stony hill- 
side on the bank of the same river, but about two miles above 
Union Factory, Baltimore county, Md. Some of the snakes 
were of considerable length and thickness, and, as I noticed 
clearly, kept together by procreative impulses. 

It is surely not agreeable to go near enough to such a wandering, 
living and hissing hundred-headed ball to examine the doings and 
actions, and search for the inner causes of such a snake associa- 
tion. As, furthermore, the localities for such mass-meetings of 
snakes are becoming rarer every year, and our rapidly in- 
creasing cultivation of the country must make it hotter for snakes 
everywhere, only a few naturalists could see such a sight, even if 
they should look for it in proper t 
seems to be the first warm days 
Mills, Md. 

Reversed Melanthones. — It is a not uncommon circumstance 
for collectors, in taking any considerable number of the various 
so-called species of Melantho, to find a few of them heterostro- 
phal, or sinistral. Dr. Kirtland, in the Ohio Report (quoted by 
Binney in Land and Fresh- water Shells of North America, p. 44), 
described one of these abnormal forms as Paludina hcterostropha, 
though he evidently was not altogether clear as to its specific 
value, for he remarks, " I formerly considered it as a mere variety 
of P. dccisa Say." This same shell Mr. Binney has referred to 
Melantho ponderosus Say. That all of these sinistral shells are 
abnormal forms of one or more of the well-known Melanthones 
>s now conceded by most naturalists. It was with not a little 
surprise,, therefore, that the writer recently received from a col- 
lector in Illinois a reversed shell of M. snbsolidns Anth. labeled 
with the old and almost forgotten name given by Dr. Kirtland. 
Having collected a very large number of the three species com- 
mon in New York, viz., M. rufus Hald., M. integer De Kay, and 
M. decisus Say. I wish to place on record the following observa- 
tions made in the spring of 1877, with reference to the relative 
abundance of these reversed forms. 

The method pursued was as follows: From impregnated shells, 
about the time of parturition, the young Melanthones were taken 
and separated into lots of one hundred specimens each. Every 
shell was then carefully inspected, and it was found in the case of 
M. integer that two per cent, of every one hundred shells were 



208 General Notes. [March, 

sinistral. Of M. riifus, about one and one-half per cent, of every 
one thousand were thus reversed, while the per cent, of M. decisus 
was between two and two and one-half in each hundred. Com- 
paring these averages with the number of mature reversed speci- 
mens collected through quite a long period of time, it was found 
that only about one-tenth of one per cent, survived the accidents 
consequent on station and environments. 

How to account for the presence of sinistral shells at all now 
became the problem. I submit the following suggestions : Many 
adult and impregnated specimens were dissected and carefully 
studied, with the result that the position of the embryonic shells 
was such as to necessarily crowd them one on another. As they 
increased in size (this is based upon the inspection of shells in 
different stages of development), their proximity influenced their 
assumption of form, more and more, and many curious and 
abnormal shapes were given the growing shells. Binney (1. c, p. 
49) figures some of these forms, while others have been described 
as species (e. g Palmii m 1 J/ 'a nth 1 , licnla Con.). Mr. Binney 
very properly groups these aberrant forms under M. decisus or 
M. integer. These " shouldered " and otherwise deformed shells 
are due to the crowding mentioned above. Is it not possible that 
the reversed forms originate in a similar way; the embryonic 
shell increasing in the direction of the least, or no resistance ? 
The direction of the " whirl " thus started, would be followed in 
all the succeeding stages of development. 

Mr. Binney doubts the specific identity of M. rufus Hald., but 
if the usually accepted definition of " species" be allowed, without 
good reason. The three above-mentioned forms are associated 
in the Erie Canal, at Mohawk, N. Y., and so far as species go 
they are all valid. The latest understanding of a species would, 
however, relegate them all, together with the other southern and 
western forms of the genus, to varieties of one sole type. — A J . Ells- 
worth Call, School of Science, Dexter, Iowa. 

Laws of Histological Differentiation.— In a recently pub- 
lished article (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. xx, p. 202) Dr. 
C. S. Minot discusses certain laws of histological differentiation' 
He maintains that, first, the most primitive form of tissue is an 
epithelium composed of a single row of polyhedral cells of equal 
height. Second, very early in the course of development the ecto- 
dermic cells become smaller and multiply faster than the cells of 
the entoderm. Third, the two horizontal axes of an epithelial 
cell (or those parallel to the surface of the epithelium) usually 
remain approximately equal to one another in length, while the 
perpendicular axis varies independently and to a much greater 
extent. Fourth, epithelium-* increase their surface by the forma- 
tion of depressions (invaginations) or of projecting folds (evagina- 
tions). Fifth, structural modifications of epitheliums usually 
affect similarly a whole cluster or tract of cells, but rarely isolated 



i88o.] Zoology. 209 

cells only. Sixth, probably the primitive cells of the mesoderm 
are amoeboid in character. For all mesodermic cells, not mechan- 
ically united with other cells, but capable of independent locomo- 
tion by amoeboid movements, is proposed the collective name of 
" H/rsanidiioiifs" The author concludes by saying that if these 
views are confirmed "we shall then have discovered primary his- 
tological differences between the three germinal layers in their 
earliest stages as follows: 



unly protoplasmatic, 
ilh much deutoplasm . 


two primitive layers, ect. 


*** 


—I have within 


the past few yec 


„, witnessed 



Ant Ba 

several battles between 1 
conduct of the captors towards their prisoners which I think is 
worth mentioning. The most noted battle took place July, 1 878, be- 
tween two colonies of red ants. The victorious army were med- 
ium in size and numbered many thousands; those captured were a 
much larger ant, but not so numerous. The large ants after a 
desperate resistance were forced out of their fort, four or five small 
ants holding on to the antennae and legs of the prisoner. The cap- 
tive.-, were usually taken a few inches away from the fort and liber- 
ated. All the ants returned to the fight except one who would 
stand facing his captive for a few moments, then taking hold of 
the antennae of the prisoner give three or four pulls; after waiting 
a short time the pulling was repeated with more determination; 
the big ant not responding, he was savagely jerked, then he would 
lean forward, and a drop of sweet issuing from his mouth, the 
little ant would approach and drink the nectar, then pick up his 
captive and hurry home. This was repeated many times during 
the battle. Some of the prisoners gave up their sweets without 
so much pulling. I think this battle was for no other purpose 
than to secure the sweets supposed to be in the stomachs of the 
captives. These ants were kept prisoners just one week, when 
^hey were liberated, marched off in a body and never returned. 
They were probably kept confined until their sweets were ex- 
hausted and then allowed to go free.— A. Miller, North Man- 

THE CRUS- 



210 General Notes. [March, 

si nuts, Rliynchocinetes typus, Pahcnwn u unicornis Say (natator 
Auct.;, Squilla nepa, Sphrczroma gigas. Mr. T. W. Kirk (Trans. 
New Zealand Institute, ix, 474, pi. xxvn), adds Platyonicluts ocel- 
latus and Squilla armata to the list, and in a paper now before me 1 
Capi Ha lob iia and Pot, >lis/lhs nip /,v.s are added to the list, the 
latter illustrated by a figure. In a second paper 2 he reports from 
his Antipodal Island species before known from British seas, viz. : 
Calocaris macaiidne, /' ! I lous/cs panoplus, but 

regarding his Podocerus cylindiicus there may be a doubt, as our au- 
thor apparently has not access to Say's description, and Spence 
Bate in his catalogue of Amphipodous Crustacea, describes and 
figures a distinct species from that of Say, as was pointed out by 
Smith. Say's type is no longer in existence. 

Mr. Wood Mason (the exact reference I have not at hand) re- 
ports Carcimis moenas from India, and Spence Bate in J. K. 
Lord's "Naturalist in Vancouver" reports the well known Gelasi- 
mus annulipes of the east coast of the eastern continent from 
Vancouver. G. macrodactylns Edwards et Lucus, from Chili, is 
the same species. 

I have nearly completed a revision of the genus Gclasimns, and 
perhaps it may not come amiss to state some of my facts in ad- 
vance of the appearance of the completed paper. G. viaracoani 
Latr. {armatus Smith), heterocheles Bosc. {patlydactylus Edw., 
princeps Smith), vocator Martens ex Herbst. (vocaus Edw. palitstns 
Edw. pugnax, tnordax et rapax Smith, brevifrons Stm., affinis 
Streets), are found on both shores of our continent, and speci- 
mens of vocator and pugillator are in the museum of the Phila- 
delphia Academy from Mauritius, and of viaracoani from Natal. 
G. coarctatus was described from Odessa, by the elder Milne-Ed- 
wards, while his son reports it from New Caledonia. The Phila- 
delphia Academy possess one of the original specimens which 
formerly belonged to Guerin-Meneville. No subsequent author 
(to my knowledge) has ever seen a specimen from Europe. Mar- 
cussen in his first paper on the Crustacea of the Black Sea 3 does 
not mention it, but I have not access to his subsequent paper nor 
that of Uljanin on the fauna of that locality. Heller in his 
Crustacea of Southern Europe, quotes it on the authority of Ed- 
wards. Now Guerin's specimens and Edwards' description and 
figure 4 agree well with specimens from the Philippines and Aus- 
tralia, and answer in every particular to the description by Adams 
and White 6 of G. forcipatus from Borneo. The name coarctatus 
must hence lapse into synonymy. I am inclined to consider the 
locality Odessa as erroneous. From these few facts, selected from 



i88o.] 



Zoology. 



211 



that ou 



altogether fault- 



a large number in the writer's notes, 
notions of the geographical distribution of marine forms must be 
considerably modified and that the number of known species is 
considerably less than the number of descriptions of supposed dis- 
tinct forms would indicate. I find the fiddler crabs enumerated 
under nearly one hundred distinct names, while the number of 
species will not much exceed forty, and this confusion has pro- 
ceeded partly from the idea that distinct localities must have dis- 
tinct forms and partly from assuming that minute variable charac- 
ters were of specific importance; and I would here say that my 
own work in both of these respects has 
less, but I hope ere long to correct my 
mission. — J. S. Kingsley. 



The Psorosperms found in Aphr 
P. Seal recently brought me a specimen of this curious little fish, 
which he had obtained near Woodbury, N. J. The specimen had 
interested him on account of the great number of large white 
cysts imbedded in its muscles just beneath the skin, causing the 
latter to swell outwards, producing an appearance of lumps on 
the body, as if diseased. When the little animal was held between 
the eye and light, the embedded cysts being opaque, made it easy 
to locate each one, and I have sketched this appearance in the 
accompanying outline ( Fig. i, A) of the fish with the cysts in place. 
There were about twenty of these cysts in all, which were found 
to be arranged i 



the 



On cutting through the 
skin, the cysts were found 
to have a very thin mem- 
brane, which when rup- 
tured, allowed a thick 

cape. Upon examining 
this material with a power 
of 9°0 diameters it was 
found to be entirely com- 
posed of very minute 
ovoid bodies with a tail, as 

Shown in Fig. 2, D : a pair Fig. i.-Fsorosperms in 
W nucleated elongate bod- c - vst much enlar S ed - 
ies were enclosed and attached to the membra 
appeared to be the head end. There wer< 




: body -wall of 



of these 



single cyst, and \ 



not exhibit the slightest movement, they might have 
as spermatozoa. A verv few were seen without a tail 




General Notes. [March, 

represents an optical section of the head end of one 
like that shown at D in profile, and 
shows the oblong attached internal 
bodies in an excentric position with 
reference to the enveloping mem- 
brane. Excessively minute round 
granules were found mixed in great 
abundance with the tailed forms. 

These are veritable psorosperms 
and are almost identical in form with 
those found by Muller in 1841, in European freshwater fishes. 
The above description is not different in any essential particular, . 
from that given by Muller, and I only offer this account in order 
that it may induce others to look for similar parasites in other 
common vertebrates. Cobbold states that they are harmless if 
eaten with the flesh which contains them, stating that in eating of 
the heart of a healthy ox, which had furnished part of two meals, 
he himself must have consumed at least 18,000 of these parasites. 
They are supposed to be an embryonic stage of development of 
the Gregarines. 

Psorosperms, have not, as far as I am aware, been recorded as 
being found in Aphredoderiis, which is a characteristically American 
fish. There must have been half a million of these embryonic 
gregarines in the individual fish which I examined. — John A. 
Ryder. 

. Structure of the Eve of Limulus. — The eyes of the horse- 
shoe or king crab are four in number ; consisting of a pair of 
compound eyes situated on the side of the head, and a pair of 
small simple eyes on the front of the head. As described by A. 
Milne-Edwards and Owen, the optic nerves to these eyes are very 
long and slender. Those distributed to the larger compound 
eyes are very long, and close to each eye subdivide into an irreg- 
ular plexus of fine nerves, a branch being, as we have found, dis- 
tributed to each facet composing the, compound eye. The struc- 
ture of the eye is very unlike that of any other Arthropod eye. 
The cornea is simply a smooth convex portion of the integument, 
which is much thinner than the adjoining part of the chitinous 
skin. There are no facets, the cornea externally being structure- 
less, simply laminated like the rest of the integument. In the 
internal side of the cornea are a series of solid chitinous conical 
bodies, separated from one another by a slight interspace and in 
form resembling so many minnie-rifie balls; the conical ends of 
these solid cones project free into the interior of the body, and 
are enveloped in a dense layer of black pigment. Within the 
base of these cones are secondary shallow cup-like bodies of 
shallow secondary cones. It is these primary cones which, seen 
through the smooth convex translucent cornea, give the appear- 
ance of a facetted surface to the external eye. 



All the parts thus far described except the pigment layer, are 
moulted with the rest of the crust, and the large long slender 
cones can be easily seen by viewing a piece of the cast-off eye ; 
the solid cones being seen projecting from the inner surface of 
the cast-off cornea. 

The internal structure of the eye is very simple. There are no 
cones and no rods, but a branch of the optic nerve impinges 
directly upon the end of the solid chitinous cone, as determined 
by removing the layer of pigment with dilute potash, and treating 
the section with acetic acid and then staining with picro-carmine. 
So far as we can ascertain, no Arthropod eye is so simple as that 
of Limulus. Our observations have been based on a study of the 
structure of the lobster's eye from preparations of very great 
beauty and delicacy, kindly made for us by Norman N. Mason, 
Esq., of Providence, who has also made beautiful sections of the 
Limulus eye, after treating them in various ways. The question 
as to the nature of the solid cones we are not yet prepared 
to settle. Are they crystalline lens or only analogous organs ? 
Can the horse-shoe crab distinguish objects? We doubt if its eyes 
enable it to more than di md darkness. 



Sim- 


the al 


Jove rema 


rks were 


put in t 


ype, 








Cher's 


grcal 


: work on 


the eye* 


> of Arth 




He 


: regards the 








lie-ball-like bodie 










does i 


lot d< 


ascribe th< 


t simple 


eye, \vh:< 


:h b 


; a close 


repetition of 




' the * 




ises of the compound 


eye 


of i 




mal, e: 




that the It 






with 


the 


end 




obtuse 


-..—A. 


.9. Packard, Jr. 













Advent of Passer domesticus in North Carolina. — The 
following letter is published in the belief that it is desirable to 
preserve records of the spread of this bird in this countrv . — Elliott 
Cones, }}], < s - . /, ('; 

Dallas, N. C, Nov. 30, 1879. 
Dr. Elliott Cones. 

Dear Sir :— Thinking that any information concerning the 
English sparrow would be appreciated, I take this liberty. On 
the 23d inst, I saw what I believed to be one- of that species at 
this place, and on the 24th and 25th, I killed two. Both were 
males. Gaston county, of which Dallas is the county seat, borders 
on South Carolina, is in the Piedmont region, but still a good 
ways south, and I had supposed that we would never be invaded. 
1 he West and North I had supposed were the only parts of the 
country that would be cursed with them, but this looks as if they 
were coming South. They will find no nesting boxes here, 
however. Are they migratory ? 

Yours, &c, Paul B. Barrlnger, M. D. 



The Structure of the Tracheae and the "Pi 
kculation " in Insects.— Under this title M. Jules 



214 General Notes. [March, 

Gand, has published a prize memoir of more than ordinary value. 
His conclusions are as follows : i. The wall of the trachea com- 
prises three layers: one external, probably connective ; a middle 
chitin-forming, and an internal chitinous layer. 2. The spiral 
thread does not belong properly to the tubular tracheae. 3. 
The spiral thread does not differ from the rest of the intima by 
its thickness alone ; but especially in its functions. 4. The tubu- 
lar tracheae, and especially the intima of those organs, present 
numerous variations, even in a given group, like that of the 
winged insects, for example. 5. The chitin-forming tunic of the 
trachea is not formed by cells fused together, but it is on the con- 
trary a true epithelium. 6. The middle tunic remains independent 
along the whole length of the trachea. 7. The peritracheal circu- 
lation is anatomically impossible. 8. In many larvae, the intima 
presents besides the spiral thread, other parts, differing by their 

It will be remembered that Blanchard, and afterwards Agassiz, 
assumed that there was a circulation of blood between the trachea 
proper and its investing peritracheal membrane. Joly, and after- 
wards H. J. Clark of this country, maintained that this was 
anatomically impossible, and Macleod by experiments and dissec- 
tions shows that such must be the case. 

Vitality of Helix aspera. — Almost incredible statements are 
found in the books concerning the vitality of snails. I must add 
another. August 24th, 1878, I ascended an old castle, or square 
tower, near Queenstown, Ireland, and found between the stones a 
number of the common garden snail of Europe, Helix aspera. 
I secured three specimens, and having wrapped them in paper, 
put them in my trunk. On my arrival home, October 28, on 
looking for my treasures, I found one was crushed. The other 
two I dipped in water a few seconds, then put them in the fernery, 
and was delighted to see them crawl about. I could not get 
them to feed. One died in the following May, having been in 
confinement nine months. The other died in November, 1879, 
having lived thirteen months without food. — S. Loekzvood, Free- 
hold, n. y. 

Zoological News.— In Forest and Stream for Jan. 29, Henry 
Youle Hind states that the salmon on the Labrador and New- 
foundland coast spawn in the spring as well as in the autumn, 

i. e., that some spawn in the autumn and some in the spring.- 

A blind Asellus-like Isopod Crustacean has been discovered by 
Prof. Forel, at great depths, in Lake Leman ; the eyes are rudi- 
mentary, while the general color of the animal is white. Mr. 

Darwin notices, in Nature, the fertility of hybrids from the com- 
mon and Chinese goose, and shows that the fertility is complete. 

M. H. W. Bates states that certain species of Longicorn 

beetles mimic Lampyrid beetles " with great « 



giving segments of the latter being perfectly represented in the 

Longicorns, although destitute of phosphorescent power." 

The Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of California for 
1878 and '79. contains numerous and valuable notes on the food 

fishes of San Francisco by W. N. Lockington. The Journal 

of the Royal Microscopical Society reports the discovery of an 
Otocyst-like organ in the antennae of flies (Syrphus, etc.). There 
seems little doubt but that many Diptera (Muscidae and Tabanidaj 
excepted) have these minute ears situated in the third joint of 
their antennae. Mayer, however, questions whether these organs, 
of which he claims to have found fifty in the antennae of Musca 
vojnitoria, are ears, though he regards them as organs of some 
sense. Dr. H. Krauss finds an otocyst in the larva and imago of 

Tabnnus, the horse-fly. Dr. H. Burmeister discovers that the 

fine longitudinal lines or striae of butterfly scales belong to the 
upper membrane of the scale, and that they are due to filaments 
which are elevated on the inner side of the upper meml 
These views are in opposition to those of Beck, and maybe 

incorrect. Mr. James Ward has recently been performing 

some interesting experiments on the nervous system of the cray 
fish. 1 He arrives at the conclusions from cutting the nervou: 
cords at various positions, that there is no decussation of the Ion 
gitudinal nerve fibres unless within the supra-cesophageal gan 
glion ; that the supra-cesophageal ganglion is the highest center 
of nervous activity, though not identical with the cereb ' 
lobes of vertebrates, and that the infra-cesophageal ganglion is tne 
great center for the co-ordination of the movements of the body. 

The "Arbeiten " of the Zoological Institute of Vienna, Vol. 11, 

Part 11, 1879, contains a revision of the known genera and species 
of the Platyscellidae (Crustacea Amphipoda), and a descript 
a new Siphonophore from the Mediterranean by Carl 1 

Mr. Gibbes 2 has been making some investigations regarding 

the structure of the spermatozoa, and finds that the head, from 
its reaction with coloring agents, possesses a different chemical 
structure from the rest of the organism. A filament was found 
to arise at the base of the head, in all the animals examined, which 
was united to the " tail " of the spermatozoon by a delicate mem 
brane, and Mr. Gibbes maintains that the head is enclosed in i 
sheath continuous with this membrane, and that the motivt 
power lies in the filament and the membrane attaching it to the 
tail. 

' Some notes on the Physiology of the Nervous System of the Crayfish. Journal ... 



ANTHROPOLOGY. • 

Ober's Carribees. — Lee & Shepard, of Boston, have just issued 
a work entitled " Camps in the Carribees," by Mr. Frederick A. 
Ober, who undertook a scientific exploration of the Lesser Antil- 
les in 1876. The most of the volume is occupied with a racy 
account of the naturalist's experience in those islands while col- 
lecting specimens in zoology. Chapters vi, vn and xin, however, 
come under our immediate topic. In two of the smaller islands, 
Dominica and Saint Vincent, are the only remnants of that power- 
ful race which struck terror into the hearts of Columbus and his 
followers. Humboldt relates that the Caribs of South America 
called themselves Carina, Calina, Callinago, Caribi, and that the 
name Carib is derived from Calina and Califoona; the latter word 
being the ancient name of their people given to Mr. Ober by the 
Caribs of St. Vincent and Dominica. This name the author seeks 
to connect with Shakespere's Caliban, and Robinson Crusoe's 
" Man Friday." Their ancient savage manners have wonderfully 
changed, for they are now gentle, hospitable, and kind to their 
women. They are naturally much lighter than the typical Indian, 
which has given them the title of " Yellow Indians." In Domin- 
ica there are but twenty families of pure Caribs; in Saint Vincent 
less than six. In the latter island there is an interesting people, 
called " Black Caribs," formed by the intermarriage of the natives 
with negroes. Mr. Ober confirms the statement of a difference 
between the language of the men and that of the women. They 
have, besides, a certain form of speech which they use among 
themselves in war-councils. The author inclines to the view that 
the Caribs were the race who made the beautiful stone implements, 
collars, mammiform stones, masks, &c, found throughout these 
islands. In the National Museum is a collection of implements 
brought by Mr. Ober from Saint Vincent The volume before us 
will prove interesting not only to the ethnologist but to the ornith- 
ologist, as the appendix contains a list of all birds collected. 

Mound Builders.— The second number of Vol. 11, of the Ameri- 
can Antiquarian contains the following papers: The Mound Build- 
ers; Explorations by the Muscatine Academy of Sciences, by J. E. 
Stevenson; Alaska and its Inhabitants, by Rev. Shelton Jackson; 
Antiquity of the Tobacco Pipe in Europe. Part 11. Switzerland, 
by E. A. Barber; Fort Wayne (old Fort Miami) and the Route 
from the Maumee to the Wabash, by R. S. Robertson ; How the 
Rabbit Killed the (Male) Winter, an Omaha Fable, by J. O. Dor- 
sey; The Delaware Indians in Ohio, by S. D. Peet ; The Silent 
Races, by L. J. Dupre ; Sacrificial Mounds in Illinois and Ohio. 

The paper of Mr. Stevenson upon the explorations of the Mus- 
catine Academy is a very important contribution to mound-litera- 
ture. " From an imaginary point near Drury's Landing, a few 

Edited by Prof. Oris T. Mason, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. 



i88o.] Anthropology. 217 

miles above and east of Muscatine to another like point, and 
clown the river, near Toolesboro and New Boston, distant from 
the first point twenty miles, the bluffs (once the Mississippi shore 
line) recede from each other about eight miles, and upon all the 
highest points are found groups of mounds, numbering from two 
to one hundred or more, varying in base diameter from fifteen to 
one hundred and fifty feet, and from two to fifteen feet in height. 
In all there cannot be far from two thousand five hundred mounds." 
• Mr. Stevenson enters into a calculation of the time required for 
their erection. Among civilized peoples, only the head of the 
family is engaged in active industry; but it is quite possible that 
men, women and children entered with enthusiasm into this 
national work. The papers of Messrs. Jackson, Barber, Robinson 
end Dorsey, are all of permanent ethnological value. Mr. Peet 
will publish aNo a quarterlv, entitled The Oriental Journal. 

Mr. F. W. Putnam communicated the following note to the 
Boston Society of Natural History, October 15, 1879, on the 
occurrence Of chambered barrows in America : 

"The chambered mounds are situated in the eastern part of 
Clay Co., Missouri, and form a large group on both sides of the 
Missouri river. The chambers are, in the three opened by Mr. Cur- 
tiss, about eight feet square, and from four and a half to five feet 
high, each chamber having a passage-way several feet in length 
and two in width, leading from the southern side, and opening on 
the edge of the mound formed by covering the chamber and 
Passage-way with earth. The walls of the chambered passages 
were about two feet thick, vertical, and well made of stones, which 
were evenly laid, without clay or mortar of any kind. The top of 
one of the chambers had a covering of large flat rocks, but the 
others seem to have been closed over with wood. The chambers 
were filled with clay which had been burnt, and appeared as if it 
"ad fallen in from above. The inside walls of the chambers also 
showed signs of fire. Under the burnt clay, in each chamber, were 
found the remains of several human skeletons, all of which had 
been burnt to such an extent as to leave but small fragments of 
the bones, which were mixed with the ashes and charcoal. .Mr. 
Y"' tiss bought that in one chamber he found the remains of five 
skeletons and in another thirteen. With these skeletons there 
d ^a ew ,nt implements and minute f.agments vesse s 

" A large mound near the chambered mounds was also opened., 
out in tins no chambers were found. Neither had the bodies been 
tn Urnt- TIlis mound proved remarkably rich in large flint imple- 
ments and also contained well-made pottery and a peculiar 
gorget ' of red stone. The connection of the people who placed 
"W : ashes of their dead in the stone chambers with those who 
ouned their dead in the earth mounds is of course yet to be 
determined." 



2 « 8 General Notes. [March, 

Anthropological News. — The question is frequently asked, 
How does anthropology fare in the catastrophe which destroyed 
the three surveys of Hayden, Wheeler and Powell ? It is the 
purpose of this brief note to answer this question. In the same 
bill in which provision was made for the establishment of the 
new survey under Clarence King, an appropriation was granted 
for continuing the ethnographic work, and this resulted in 
the organization of what is known as the Bureau of Ethnology, 
and Major J. W. Powell was put in command of the corps. . 
This Bureau is now engaged with the aid of skilled collaborators 
in the following work: r. Preparing a history of Indian affairs, 
including an atlas of treaty cessions, exhibiting by graphic 
signs and descriptive text, the manner and time of the yielding 
up of our territory by the aborigines. 2. Carrying on an exhaus- t 
tive investigation concerning the languages of the North Ameri- 
can Indians, including a series of grammars and dictionaries and a 
bibliography. At present it is found convenient to group them 
into the following linguistic stocks : Adaize, Achomawi, Aleut, 
Algonkin, Alikwa (Yurok), Ara (Karok), Atakapa, Atimoke 
(Timucua), Billekula, Bribri, Caddo, Cheroki, Chetimacha, Chia- 
panec, Chimariko, Chimseyan, Chinuk, Coahuiltec, Coiba (Cueva), 
Dakota (including Catawba), Galibi, Haida, Hailtsuk, Huave 
(Wabi), Inuit, Iroquois, Kalapuya, Kera Pueblo, Kaiowa, Kusa, 
Xutene, Maidu, Maklaks (Klamath), Maskoki, Maya(Mixe), Mut- 
sun, Nahuatl, Numa, Nutka (or Bowatchat), Otom'i, l'ani, Pirinda, 
Porno, Rio Grande Pueblo, Sahaptin, Sasti, Sayuskla, Selish, 
Sen", Takilma (Kalapuya), Tarasco, Tel aim: (including Santa Bar- 
bara and San Antonio), Terraba, Thlinkit, Tinne, Tonkawe, Ulua 
(Maya). Washo, Wayiletpu, Wichita, Wintum, Wishosk, Xicague 
(Nicaragua), Yakona, Yokuts, Yaki, Yuma, Yutchi, Zapotec, Zuni. 
3. A collection of a complete synonymy of North American In- 
dians as material for an encyclopedia or classical dictionary of 
every tribe known to have lived on our continent. 4. An investiga- 
tion into the sign language, by Colonel Garrick Mallcry. 5. An ac- 
count of savage mythology or philosphy, under the special direc- 
tion of Major Powell. 6. The study of the arts and industries of all 
■our tribes. During the past summer a party consisting of Mr. 
James Stevenson, Mr. Frank Cushing and Mr. J. Hillers were 
dispatched to the Pueblos, with instructions to leave no object, 
sketch, of custom that would be valuable to the ethnologist. 
Mr. Stevenson had charge of the collection, Mr. Millers of the 
photography, and Mr. Cushing of the ceremonial part of the 
work. The first two gentlemen have already returned laden with 
four car loads cf the finest specimens of ab< .riginal art ever brought 
together. Mr. Cushing, who has succeeded in ingratiating him- 
self with the Pueblo people, will remain over the winter. The 
enumeration of a few of the objects in this superb collection will 
give some idea of its rare value. From Zuni : pottery, whole and 



i88o.J Anthropology. 219 

in fragments, together with clay, and all the implements used in 
pottery manufacture and decoration, leather dye, dried peaches, 
bread used in dance, medicine sticks, pottery drums, war shields, 
carved chairs, snow shovels, bread paddles, dried meat, bows 
and arrows, toys, moccasins, stone molds, mallets, quoits, 
rattles, herb tea. From the Moquis: — dresses, looms, sheets, 
belts, blankets, stockings, dance-ornaments, pouches, sashes, 
tassels, rabbit-skin robes, saddle bags, boomerangs, stone 
images, arrows and bows, with all the implements for mak- 
ing them, corn-mills, virgin's head dress, cradles, hair curlers, 
forceps, lariats, moccasins, dance-ornaments, wrist guards, 
medicine boxes, balls for play, vermin killers, gambling cups, 
mush sticks, snares, agricultural implements, water bottles, paint 
ugh the valley of 
: nineteen Fueblo villages, and it is designed to 
make characteristic collections at every one. Mr. Hiller's collec- 
tion of photographs includes views of the interior and exterior of 
these Pueblos from every accessible point of view, and of the 
natives of various ranks in their characteristic attire. The most 
interesting of his pictures is a group of albinos, the skin and hair 
being quite white, who intermarry with the other members of the 
tribe and are very highly esteemed. 

Mr. Wm. J. Rhees, chief clerk of the Smithsonian Institution. 
has edited a pamphlet of i/> page-,, entitled "Victor's Guide to 
the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum." The latter 
portion, from page 63 to the cad, is occupied with a brief descrip- 
tion of Anthrop^j , al ! hill. um\ r the direction of Dr. Charles 
Ran. Although tin j ubl c ition is provisional, it is exceedingly 
timely, and will assist the visitor to acquire a good general 
of our national collection. 

From London Mature we extract the following list of short 
articles: December 4th, The Turkomans, by H. H. Keane, a 
review of a paper by Professor Arminius Vambcrv, before Anthro- 
pological Institute of London; Finnic ethnology, a review by 
A. H. Keane, of "Finnish Crania," bv Gustav Retzius, of Stock- 
holm, in December 25th. Dr. Retzius adopts the view that the 
*«|ns are amongst the most recent arrivals from Asia; Mr. J. C. 
Uilton reviews at length in January I and Januarys, Maciay's 

Observations upon the Papuans of the Malay coast of New 
guinea, giving an account of many most interesting customs; 
January 5. £ review of the f i iowing wor k: Catalogue of speci- 
| '^ _ Crating the osteology and dentition of vertebratcd 

Royal College of Surgeons, of England, by William Henry 
^wer, conservator of* the museum! Part I. Man. (London: 
David Bogue, 1879.) 

1 he Academy for January 3, announces that Dr. Robert Hart- 
mann ,s the author of a monograph, entitled "Die Nigritier, erne 



220 General Notes. [March, 

anthropologisch-ethnologische Monographic," published as a sup- 
plement of five hundred pages to Zeitschrift filr ethnologic, Berlin. 

The October number of the Revue tV Anthropologic contains the 
following original papers and reviews : Notes sur la fecondite des 
mulatres du Senegal, by M. Berenger-Feraud, 12 pp. ; de la notion 
de la Race en Anthropologic, by M. Paul Topinard, J2 pp. ; Note 
sur le Developpement du Cerveau considere dans ses Rapports 
avec le Crane, by M. Ch. Fere, 14 pp.; Une negresse blanche, by 
Dr. Smester, 7 pp. La Mythologie Comparee, of M. Girard 
de Rialle is reviewed in a critique of eight pages, by M. Andre 
Lefevre. The chapter entitled " Revue Prehistorique, by M. E. 
Callamand, embraces a review of Greenwell's 'British Barrows,' " 
eleven pages, and a resume of the prehistoric portion of Bulletin 
de la Societe d'Anthropologie, 4 pp. The book review, by M. 
Zaborowski, is a critique of 8 pp. on Chudzinski's "Anatomie 
comparee des circonvolutions cerebrales." Under the Revue des 
Journaux are reviews upon: Etude sur les cranes boughis et 
dyaks du Museum d'histoire naturelle, by Dr. Montano ; Anom- 
alie symetrique hereditaire des deux mains, by Dr. Bcechat de 
Fribourg, in Bull. Congr. medic, intern, de Geneve, 1878; Apercu 
general de l'heredite et de ses lois, by Dr. Marc Lorin, These 
inaugurale de la Faculte de medecine, Paris, 1878; Annales de 
demographie internationale, recueil trimestriel publie sous la 
direction du Dr. Arthur Chervin, Deuxieme annee, Paris, 1878; 
Lectures on the Indigenous races of the Pacific Ocean, by Wil- 
liam H. Flower; Anthropology of the county of Gloucester, by 
Dr. John Beddoe, in Trans. Clone. Arch. Soc, Bristol, 1878; 
Essay upon the anthropology of Southern Tyrol, based upon the 
examination of skulls discovered at Saint Pierre, near Meran, by 
M. Rabl-Ruckhard, Berlin GeselLch.f An tit., &c, Feb. 16, 1878. 
The number closes with brief extracts, a short resume of the 
various anthropological congresses during the year, and a biblio- 
graphical bulletin of five pages. The most valuable contribution 
to the number is the paper of M. Topinard upon the idea of 
"race" in anthropology, and demands more space for a review 
than we can give it here. 

Prof. Friedrich Muller contributes to Das Ausland, No. 10, a 
short article upon the language of animals. 

The Vcrhandlungcn dcr Berliner Gcscllschaft fur Anthropologic 
Ethnologic, und (■;- <• //,'< '// from J.muan 1 dmiury of the cur 
rent year, give us a digest of the proceedings of that celebrated 
society. In turning over the leaves we find quite extended 
abstracts of the following communications: Session of Jan II. 
Skull from the Bone-Cave of Gorenice, near "Ojcow, Poland, by 
Ferd. Romer, in Breslau, with Table iv ; Upon the stone im 
ments of Japan, and upon various antiquities in the collectio 
the German Society for the study of Eastern Asia, by Hi 
Brandt; Results of his measurements of school children, by Pro- 



i88o.] Anthropology. 221 

fessor Lucae ; Upon the language of the Australians, by Hr. 
Steinthal. Session of Jan. 18: "Face-urn" from a stone-cyst 
grave in Gabolin (Kreis culm, West Prussia); Fung Schui, or 
Chinese " Geomanty ; !' Black pottery in India and in Turkey, 
by Hr. Jagor ; Upon the cemetery of Giebichenstein, near Halle, 
Hr. Credner. Session of Feb. 15: The canicars of Southern 
India, by Hr. Jagor. 

The following titles from various sources may be of service to 
some of our readers : The oldest art in the world, by W. J. Loftie, 
(MacmiUan's Mao-.) Electic Mag., Dec, 4 pp.; Beasts, Birds, and 
Insects in Irish Folk-Lore, by Letitia McClintock, tfclgravia, 
Nov., 8 pp. ; The Ancient Remains at Bounarbashi. by W. Simp- 
son, London Academy, Nov. 1 ; Cinderella, by W. R. S. Ralston, 
Nineteenth Century, Nov., 22 pp. ; The study of Cuneiform Archae- 
ology, by Rev. B. VV. Saville, Clergyman s Magazine, Nov., 16 pp.; 
The Deluge : Its traditions in Ancient Nations, by F. Lenormant, 
Contemporary Rev., Nov.; The Supreme God in the Indo-Euro- 
pean Mythology, by J. Darmsteter, Contemporary Rev., Living 
Age, Oct. 25, 10 pp.; The Hittites in Asia Minor, London Acad- 
emy, Nov. 1 ; Monumental inscriptions in all parts of the world, 
Calcutta R L ::, July; Pliocene Man, by Dr. C. C. Abbott, Kansas 
City Review, Nov.; Pottery in Prehistoric Times, by L. Jewitt, 
Lllustr. Art Joum., Nov., 3 pp ; Preservation of Ancient Ruins 
and Monuments, Chamber's Journal, Nov.; Les Temps oublies, 
byE. Littre, Philosophic Positive Revue, Dec, 8 pp.; Fetish or 
Rag Bushes in Madagascar. Saturday Mao:, Nov. 22 ; The Music 
°f Hindustan, by B. S. P. Ghosha. 'Calcutta Rev., July; Institu- 
tions et Mceurs Annamites, by T. V. Ky, Philosophic Positive 
Revue, Dec, 12 pp.; Language and the Egyptian Language, by 
Dr. C.Abel, New Englander, Nov., 15 pp.; Des Origines et de 
1 Evolution du Droit economique, by H. Denis, Philosophic Posi- 
twe Revue, Dec, 12 pp.; The Bohemians and Slovaks, Westmin- 
ster Rev., Oct., 30 pp.; Cabul and its People, Saturday Mag, 
Nov. 8. 2 pp. 

The following are recent articles of interest : 



y. Tr. Soc. Bib 
-lore. Eclectic Ai 






General Notes, 



Opi-ert, G— On the Ancient Commerce of India. M.n/ras j. of Literature, I. 

GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 

Fossil Crawfish from the Tertiaries of Wyoming.— Two 
specimens of fossil crawfish quite well preserved have been kindly 
loaned us for description by Professor Leidy, who received them 
from the fish beds of the western border of Wyoming, through 
Dr. J. Van A. Carter, of Evanston, Wyoming. Of the two speci- 
mens, the smaller presents a dorsal, and the larger a lateral view, 
both being slightly distorted by pressure; the length of the smaller 
from the tip of the rostrum to the end of the telson is 38 mm., and 
of the larger 53 mm. They do not differ generically from existing 
species of Cambarus, though with some resemblances to Astacus, 
but as the gills are not represented it is not possible to say to 
which of these two genera the species belongs; still the weight of 
characters ally it nearest to Cambarus. affinis, as seen in the long 
narrow pointed rostrum, and the form of the chelae and the sec- 
ond antennal scales. These scales are also much as in C. obesus 
var. latimanus and bartonii, but rather narrower, the lateral termi- 
nal spine being long, slender, acute. The flagellum of the second 
antennae are of the usual size, extending to the terminal fourth of 
the abdomen. The distal end of the scape of the first antenna? 
reach to near the end of the last joint of the scape of the first pair, 
the species in this respect being more like Cambarus than Astacus. 
The carapace is of the proportions of living species of Cambarus. 
The first pair of legs are rather shorter and stouter than in our 
living crawfishes, and the chelae are rather shorter, while the 
surface of the carapace and legs is much more coarsely tubercu- 
lated than in our Cambari, and in this respect resembles large 
specimens of Astacus fluviatilis of Europe, though the tubercles 

The abdomen is of the usual proportions, but the surface is 
more coarsely tubercled ; the telson and broad rami of the last 
pair of feet are spined as in living species of Cambarus. It is inter- 
esting to observe that this species is nearest related to Cambanis 
affinis, which as observed to me by Mr. P. R. Uhler, who kindly 
gave me some species for comparison, is the more generalized 
American species of the genus, and probably the oldest one. It 
would be interesting to know whether this fossil form is actually 
a Cambarus or an Astacus, and to ascertain which of these two 
genera, now restricted, the latter to the Pacific slope of the Sierra 
Nevada, the former to the Central and Eastern zoo-geographical 
provinces, was the first to obtain a foothold on our continent. 
There is a probability that the present fossil form is a member 



i88o.J Geography and Travels. 

of the American genus Camban 
therefore, Cambarus primcevus.— 

On the Sauropterygia of Boulogne-sur-Mer. — Dr. H. E. 
Sauvage has recently published an interesting memoir on the 
above subject, including in it many general remarks on the affini- 
ties and contents of the order Sauropterygia. He uses the results 
of the latest investigations on the. subject, referring especially to 
those of Seeley. He describes several species heretofore very 
little known, and adds a number of new ones to Scientific Litera- 
ture. Those which Dr. Sauvage finds in the Upper Jurassic beds 
of the Boulonnais are: Pliosaurus gamma Ow.; P. grandis 0\v. ; 
P. suprajureiisis Sauv. ; Po/v/yehoao/i archiaci E. K. Desk; Ples- 
iosaurus carina t us < )\v. ; P. 'phillipsi Sauvg. ; P. morinicus Sauvg. ; 
P. vifraplauus Phil.; P. plicatus Phil.; P. elltpsospondvlus ( )w. ; 
Col\ mbosaui u ^ don rtrei Sam g , Mm a uosaurus manscli Hulke ; 
Polycotylus suprajureiisis Sauvg. 

A new Hippidium. — A species apparently of this genus of 
horses has been discovered by Prof. Thomas Condon in the Loup 
Eork beds of Cottonwood creek, Oregon. It is represented as 
yet by superior molar teeth only, which are larger than those of 
any of extinct American horses, excepting the Equus e.xn/sus, 
about equaling those of Hippidium neogmtm Lund. The 
crowns of these teeth are very long and slightly curved, and the 
roots are short. The internal columns are relatively small, are 
subequal in size, and are flattened in outline. A peculiarity of 
the species is seen in the great transverse width of the lakes which, 
at the middle, is equal to the anteroposterior diameter. The 
crescents, and especially the inner ones, are correspondingly nar- 
row. The enamel borders are simple, there being ' only a few 
notches on the adjacent faces of the lakes. One loop projects 
from the inner enamel border, almost reaching the anterior inner 
column. Cement abundant. Diameters of second premolar : 
anteroposterior, m. .035; transverse behind .021; height of 
crown .035. Diameters of a superior molar: anteroposterior, .027 ; 

ternally, .045. The species of the genus heretofore described 
from the United States {H.pcmix and H. robustus\ are represented 
a-s having teeth with short crowns and long fangs, and of materi- 
ally smaller size. The species may be called H. spectans. The 
teeth are about the size of those of the quagga.— £ D. Cope. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS. l 

United States Geological and Geographical Survkv of 
, n,K ri-KRiToRiEs. Work of 1S77-8, Primary Triangulatiox and 
Yellowstone p ARK Maps. — Among the posthumous works <»t 
Ur - r. V. Hayden's Survey of the Territories, there have recently 

Edited by ELLIS II. Yarnall, Philadelphia. 



224 General Notes. [March, 

appeared a series of maps, comprising most of the topographical 
work of the last two years, 1877 and 1878. This series comprises 
a sketch of the primary triangulation, and a drainage map, each 
covering the whole area surveyed, on a scale of eight miles to an 
inch, a detailed map of the Yellowstone National Park, on a scale 
of two miles to an inch, and three detailed atlas sheets, on a scale 
of four miles to an inch, The last three sheets were noticed in 
the number of the Naturalist for January. 

The triangulation sheet shows the scheme of the primary trian- 
gulation, the stations, the sight lines, the closed and open tri- 
angles, the details of the expansions from the bases, and theastro- 

The base lines were two in number, one near Fort Steele, on 
the Union Pacific railroad, Wyoming, the other in the valley of 
Bear River, near the village of Georgetown, Idaho. Each was be- 
tween five and six miles in length, about two miles of which appear 
to have been measured directly, while the balance was ranged out 
by small, well proportioned triangles. The expansions were by 
means of closed triangles, and, apparently were well executed. 

Sherman and Fort Steele in Wyoming, Salt lake City and Ogden 
in Utah. These points were located by the Coast Survey and by 
Lieut. Wheeler of the Engineer Corps. The scheme is well 
planned, most of the triangles being well proportioned and the 
only failures are unquestionably due to the incompleteness of the 
: discontinuance of the survey. 

wonders of the Yellowstone coun- 
try, in 1870, this region has been a favorite field of exploration. 
Expedition after expedition has traversed it, each following much 
the same routes as its predecessors, and, after the first, adding but 
little to the sum of human knowledge regarding this strange fire- 

The explorations in this region, of the survey under Dr. F- V. 
Hayden, in 1871 and 1872, were singularly prolific of facts, geo- 
logical, physical and geographical, and little that was new was 
evolved from numerous expeditions that followed. The big 
nuggets had been taken, and nothing but a careful, scientific, 
reworking of the tailings would extract from them the wealth of 
fine gold which they still held. 

In 1878, Dr. Hayden's survey reached this region in the prose- 
cution of its system of surveys. Its work had, years previously, 
passed from the reconnoissance stage to that of systematic surveys 
on a scale and of a degree of accuracy commensurate with the 
needs of the country. 

In that year, a party was directed to make a detailed survey of 
the Yellowstone Park, its geography, geology and volcanic 
phenomena. 

A part of the results of this season's work is now before the 



>nipt « 
•of th 



i88o.] Microscopy. 225 

world, in the form of a map of the Yellowstone Park on a scale 
of two miles to an inch, a scale sufficiently large to show all 
details necessary to the geologist, or the traveler. The topogra- 
phy is represented by contour lines, at approximate intervals of 
one hundred feet. This map, as well as the others published by 
this survey, are admirable illustrations of relief-effect by means of 
contours ; and they not only express the relief, but the absolute 

From a study of this map, we find that the greater part of the 
surface of the Park consists of high rolling plateaus, broken by 
stream beds, cliffs and canons. Several small groups of moun- 
tains diversify the surface, among them the Red mountains, in 
the southern part, rising two thousand feet above the general 
level, or more than ten thousand feet above the sea— and the 
Washburn group, near the middle of the Park. This group has 
the form of a horseshoe, opening towards the east. The eastern 
border of the Park is occupied by a high, rugged range, to which 
has long attached the name of Yellowstone Range. Index peak; 
the highest measured peak in this range, exceeds 11,700 feet in 
height. In the north-western corner of the Park is the southern 
extremity of the Gallatin range, culminating in Electric Peak, a 
magnificent summit, 11,155 feet above the sea. which overlooks 
almost the whole Park. 

The mean elevation of this reservation appears to be not far 
from 8000 feet, an elevation so great in this latitude as to pre- 
suppose an almost at otic climate. The lowest point within its 
limits is at the mouth of Gardiner's river, on the Yellowstone, 
which is 5360 feet. 

Marked features of the reservation are the low, indefinite divides 
and the abundance of lakes and marshes. In several cases we 
note marshes extending across divides and making " two ocean 

supposed. The lakes, principal among which are Yellowstone, 
ohoshone, Lewis and Heart, <*>ver nearly 200 square miles out of 
the total area of the park, which is estimated at 3312 square 



mentioned the large and' fine groups near the head of Gibbon's 
fork of the Firehole, the discovery of which has been previously 
noticed. 

, The engraving of these maps, by Bien, of New York, is one of 
tne best specimens of his very excellent work. 
MICROSCOPY. 1 
Hints on the Preservation of Living Objects, and their 
Lamination Under the Microscope.— I will now give a short 
summary of the most useful apparatus for the examination of liv- 

• ' This de Partment is edited by Dr. R. H. Ward, Troy, N. Y. 



226 General Notes. [March, 

ing objects. The simple glass slip, three inches by I inch, or bet- 
ter, a ledged stage-plate three inches by one and a half inches, with 
narrow strip of glass cemented along one edge. One of these, 
with cover-glass, is often all the apparatus necessary to use with 
small infusoria and free-swimming rotifers, and is also occasionally 
available with a little management for larger objects, either free or 
attached. Manipulation with these I cannot better describe than 
in the words of Judge Bedwell in his description of what I call 
Bedwell's rotifer-trap. 

"Take a plane glass slide, on it drop one or more of the roti- 
fers in a drop of water, about half an inch in diameter, and draw 
off the surplus water if any, carefully with the empty pipette ; then 
fray out a very, very small portion of cotton wool (I always use a 
watchmaker's glass in the eye to do all such operations) until it is 
much extended, and spread out and lay this on the drop. Upon 
that lay the thin microscopic glass, the thinner the better, and then 
set up the capillary attraction by gently touching it with a needle. 
Draw off any superfluous water from the edges with the pocket- 
handkerchief, and you will have a little wilderness of wool in 
in which the rotifer is restrained in its movements, protected from 
pressure, and within reach of very high powers. The amount of 
wool depends on the size of the rotifer. Hydatina requires more 
depth than Khinops. The same plan answers equally well for all 
roving animals. The Goduridse in particular, when placed in deep 
glass cells, are easily seen by this apparatus, and it saves many a 
weary and vexatious five minutes with the compressorium, which 
even at the best, requires with living animals extraordinary 
patience. The rotifers are easily (ound and secured with the 
pipette and a watchmaker's glass in the eye after a very little prac- 
tice. Mr. Bolton's studio is of the greatest value to naturalists, 
and cannot be too well known, for to those who have not time to 
look for specimens it is a great privilege to be able to purchase 
them." 

Another simple apparatus I call the Wills' compressorium. 
Most forms of compressorium are useless — all are expensive. 
Those who try the following will be surprised at the efficiency of 
the apparatus. Two pieces of thin glass are Cemented on to a 
glass slip in the shape of the letter L, but with the two strokes of 
the letter about equal in length, and another thinner and longer 
one is fixed longitudinally, thus L . The L serves to retain in 

L, but inside it; the horizontal piece, which should be ground to a 
bevel on its top edge before fixing it, serves to carry a fine needle, 
the point of which is inserted beneath the- edge of the cover glass. 
This point being tapered, it is easy to increase or diminish the 
thickness of a film of water carried between the cover and the 
slip by pushing the needle further in or out, and so to form a 
cheap and effective compressorium. — T.Bolton in English JSkchanu: 



1 8 So.] Scientific News. 227 

Method of Separating Organisms from Water. — In order to 
reduce the quantity of water containing infusoria, obtained by 
means of a collecting bottle or otherwise, an easy and effective 
method is to allow the liquid to stand in a bowl until it has set- 
tled, and then take up the water by means of a sponge placed in 
a pouch made of fine silk. If the water be allowed to soak into 
the sponge very gradually and a slight pressure be given before 
removing it from the bowl so as to wash away any adherent par- 
ticles, even the finer forms of animalculae diffused through a pint 
of water may be left in great abundance in a quantity of water not 
larger than a tablespoonful.— M. A. Feeder. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 

— One of the best and most successful fish culturists and prac- 
tical ichthyologists in America has passed away. James W. Mil- 
ner was born in Kingston, Ontario, January II, 1841 ; he came 
to Chicago when about five years old, and he grew to manhood 
there, showing even as a child great, almost excessive devotion 
to study, the effects of which impaired his physical condition on 
more than one occasion. 

He left the Northwestern University, before graduating, to take 
a place as a private soldier in the 1st Illinois Light Artillery. 
Dunn- his military service, which lasted until 1864, he exhibited 
an enthusiastic patriotism, courage and endurance, with a kindly 
interest in the comfort and welfare of those about him which 
made him a universal favorite. He passed through many of the 
severest battles of the war and voluntered at Vicksburg for the 
rescue of the wounded after the disastrous repulse of the " forlorn 
hope." Doubtless the privations which he endured somewhat 
undermined his constitution, and he took to farming, under the 
persuasion of his father, in hope of recovering in this way some 
of his lost vigor. 

About 1870 his work in the direction of natural history led to 
a correspondence with Prof. S. F. Baird, and afterwards to his 
appointment as Deputy U. S. Fish Commissioner, which he 
retained until his death. Among his associates at the Smith- 
sonian Institution, there was a general appreciation of his abilities 
as an observer and his qualities as a man. His chief interest and 
held of work lay in the culture, hatching and transportation of 
various fishes and invertebrates for economical purposes, which 
necessitated a very thorough study of their habits and conditions 
'n a state of nature. 

Among the works published by him the most noteworthy arti- 
cles are those relating to the fishes of the great lakes, especially 
tlK ' ;' Wtefish, and his study of the graylings. He was naturally 
modest and given to underrating the value of his own work, and 
nence w *s not easily persuaded to publish his studies. On the 



228 Scientific News. [March, 

history offish culture and its practical workings he was doubtless 
better informed than any one else in this country at the time of 
his death. His enthusiastic and successful attempt at the fertiliza- 
tion and hatching of the eggs of the cod (never before attempted) 
kept him during an inclement season at Gloucester, Mass., under 
circumstances of great exposure. The disease of which he died 
was then first developed, though its seeds had doubtless long 
been latent in his system. A winter in Florida, a summer in 
Colorado, both came too late for his recovery to be even hoped 
for, and returning to his Illinois home (at Waukegan) he passed 
away in the midst of his family on the 6th of January, 1880. He 
left a wife and two children. Not only these bereaved ones will 
feel his loss. Those who knew him realize that a warm friend, a 
man of truth, integrity, modesty and sterling worth has been 
taken away, and that the pen of a careful, conscientious and intelli- 
gent observer and student has been laid down forever. — W. H. 
Ball. 

— The collection of the late Dr. Asa Fitch comprised one hun- 
dred and six heavy cork-lined boxes (the cartons lieges of Dey- 
rolle, 26 x \Q% c m.), nearly all of double depth, and with the ex- 
ception of a slight deposit of mold, easily removed, and a very small 
percentage of loose or broken specimens it is in excellent condi- 
tion. While the bulk of the material is from the United States, 
and principally of the doctor's own collecting in the vicinity of 
his residence at Salem, Washington county, N. Y., there are also 
many species from all parts of the world received from exchanges 
with his correspondents, Drs. Sichel, Signoret, Fairmaire and 
Andrew Murray. The Coleoptera occupy eighteen boxes ; the 
Orthoptera, seven ; Neuroptera, six ; Hymenoptera, eight ; Lepi- 
doptera. twenty-one, of which four only contain the diurnal spe- 
cies. Both divisions of the Hemiptera are nobly represented, the 
Heteropterous by fourteen boxes, and the Homopterous, to which 
as most naturalists are aware the doctor devoted especial attention, 
fill twelve boxes, and preserve as do the other orders apparently 
all the types of the descriptions published in the New York State 
Agricultural Reports, and other articles. Five boxes exhibit an 
excellent set of American Diptera with many exotic forms, and 
four are devoted to Myriapoda, Arachnida and Crustacea. 

Some thousands of European and other exotic species received 
from Sichel, Signoret, A de la Cerda.and the late Rev. M. S. Cul- 
bertson, who collected at Hong Kong, appear never to have been 
incorporated with the main collection, but are generally in good 
condition, occupying twenty-five or more boxes of various sizes. 
Several hundred biological illustrations, principally " galls," &c, 
occupy three or four double boxes, and are now in good order, 
but very liable to be disarranged in the event of transportation. 

Two cases exhibit a vast amount of patient labor on the Ceci- 



i8So.] Scientific News. 229 

domyia and allied genera, but have suffered seriously from the in- 
roads of Ptinusfur, which we caught in the act of demolition. 

An extensive collection of duplicates, including about one hun- 
dred thousand Coleoptera, and perhaps twenty-five thousand of all 
other orders, have been invaded by / \ nuestes lend wins and injured 
to an extent not exceeding twenty per cent. These are contained 
in two pine cases, each containing about thirty-six slides or rim- 
less drawers, in which the pins are feebly secured by slits or incis- 
ions in the wood. There are no traces of Anthrenus or Tinea, and 
little if any of the more minute museum pests in any part of the 
collection. 

One hundred and forty-eight small thick note-books contain in 
fine MSS., the locality, date of capture, &c, of nearly every speci- 
men ; their numbers reaching fifty-five thousand; the record com- 
mencing about the year 1833. Each species is accompanied by a 
brief diagnosis, followed on a subsequent page by a fuller descrip- 
tion with notes and observations. The whole forming an almost 
exhaustive descriptive catalogue of the collection of inestimable 
value and which should of course never be separated therefrom. 
Several microscopes, among them a valuable upright Nachet with 
all accessories, made expressly for the doctor, only a few years 
ago, and a large and valuable library containing many rare and 
curious as well as unique works on' entomological subjects are 
also stored in the small wooden building known as the " Office," 
a few rods in the rear of the hundred-year old homestead or dwel- 

of local birds and mammal and a good alcoholic collection of the 
Washington county reptiles and fishes also attest the labors of 

— It is with sincere regret that we record the death, on Janu- 
ary 23d, of Dr. Thomas M. Brewer, the distinguished ornitholo- 
gist, whose geniality and courtesy won him friends all over 
the country, and whose labors as a naturalist entitle'd him to the 
warm regard of all lovers of nature. Dr. Brewer paid, as is well 
known, special attention to the study of the habits, nests and eggs 
of birds; publishing an elaborate and beautifully illustrated trea- 
tise on the eggs of birds; he supplied this part to Baird, Brewer 
and Ridgway's great book on the birds of the United States. 

Dr. Brewer was born November 21, 1814, graduated at Har- 
vard in 1835, and began the practice of medicine three years 
later He was one of the oldest and most active of the working 
members of the Boston Society of Natural History; had just 
completed a catalogue of the large collection of humming birds 
ot the Boston Society, in whose Proceedings most of his papers 
appeared, and had almost completed the collection of New 
England birds, which he had been at work upon for several 



230 Scientific News. [March, 

years. The society owes its large collection of bird's eggs, and 
many of its choicest native birds to his labors. 

— Volume x of the new edition of the Encyclopaedia Brit- 
tanica just issued from the press, contains a long and elaborate 
article by Prof. Archibald Geikie on Geology. It is nearly as 
comprehensive as the ordinary manuals on that subject, and 

. will be still farther expanded into an advanced text book for 
schools and colleges, and published by Macmillan & Co. The 
article in the Encyclopcedia contains several sections, namely, 
the Cosmical Aspects of Geology, Geognosy, an inquiry into 
the materials of the Earth's substance, Dynamical Geology, 
Structural Geology, Palaeontological Geology, Stratigraphical 
Geology and I'liy^iographieal Geology. Like all the former 
works of Prof. Geikie, this article exhibits marked originality and 
great literary merit. There are very few writers on scientific sub- 
jects on either side of the Atlantic who possess a more masterly 
use of the English language. 

— We have received the first number of the American Ento- 
mologist, Vol. 1, new series, edited by C. V. Rilev and A. S. 
Fuller, and published by Max Jaegerhuber, 323 Pearl street, New 
York. It worthily continues the first series of this journal which 
was suspended nine years since. The number is replete with 
entertaining and popular matter most useful to farmers and hor- 
ticulturists, and deserving of the widest circulation. Articles on 
the hibernation of the cotton worm, by C. V. Riley, from advance 
sheets of Bulletin 3 of the U. S. Entomological Commission ; on 
the food-habits of thrushes, by S. A. Forbes, and others of not 
less interest, with a number of shorter notes and paragraphs, 
render the contents varied and interesting. 

— The grand Walker prize of the Boston Society of Natural 
History, founded by the late Dr. William J. Walker, and be- 
stowed every ten years for excellence in original biological work, 
was, in January last, awarded to Professor Joseph Leidy, of Phila- 
delphia. We-need hardly say that the award will meet with the 
warm approval of every naturalist in the country, as Dr. Leidy, by 
his contributions to the comparative anatomy of both the Inverte- 
brates and Vertebrates, to Vertebrate palaeontology, his studies 
on the Protozoa, the intestinal worms, and the work he has done 
in other directions most justly entitle him to this prize, which is a 
substantial one, amounting to #1000. 

— We have been delayed in noticing the second contribution 
from the E. M. Museum of Geology and Archaeology of Princeton 
College, which embraces a topographic, hypsometric and meteor- 
ologic report by William Libby, Jr., and W. W. McDonald, 
of the Princeton Scientific Expedition to Colorado, Utah and 
Wyoming, undertaken in 1877. The report is of very considera- 
ble value and contains a number of excellent photographs of the 
mountain scenery. 



1 8 80.] Scientific News. 2 3 1 

— Theodore Fischer announces the publication of six of a series 
of Palaeontological wall illustration.-, which are one hundred ctm. 
broad, and one hundred and forty ctm. high, at the price of twelve 
marks a Lieferung, containing six plates, representing Protozoa, 
sponges, corals, Brachiopods and an ideal landscape of the coal 
formation. They are edited by Drs. Zittel and Haushofer. The 
whole collection will contain from forty-five to fifty diagram*, 
comprising seven landscapes, five or six plates of fossil plants, the 
remainder of fossil animals. 

al History proposes, as a part 
niversary, to publish a hand- 
some quarto volume containing a series of illustrated articles in 
different branches of natural science, with a sketch of the society's 
history. The volume will contain several hundred pages and 
many plates. The price of the volume has been fixed at $10. 

— Mr. Defrees, the public printer, will receive until June first, 
orders for the new edition of the Narrative of the Polaris, at two 
dollars per copy. The money must be sent him with the order. 
This is the splendid edition of which extra copies have been sold 
by authority of Congress at ten per cent, above the cost of press 
work and paper. 

— Mr. P. N. Seminoff, of the Natural History Faculty of the 
University of St. Petersburg, desires North American Coleop- 
tera in exchange for those of Russia. Any correspondence iri 
regard to exchanges can be made through Hon. N. Shishkin, 
Washington, Russian Minister to the United States. 

— Dr. A. E. Foote's Leisure Hour comes to us filled with use- 
ful information, especially on the subject of mineralogy. It also 
presents us with the fullest sale list of the publications of cotem- 
porary American naturalists that exists, so far as we are aware. 

— Mr. George A. Bates has established at Salem. Mass.. a Natu- 
rall - s ^' Bmvau for the sale of works on natural history, authors' 
extras of their scientific papers, and specimens. 

'largely increased. We 
ised the number of pages of the magazine with the 
present year, and have added to the number of illustrations. We 
hope our readers will bear these fact, in mind and represent them 
to their friends. No popular scientific journal in the world pos- 
sesses a corps of editors which includes so manv names well 
known in American natural science. Our contributors are 
derived from the same class of workers, so that we do not exag- 
gerate, we think, in asserting that the NATURALIST is indispensa- 
ble to persons desiring to keep abreast of the times. We have 
ahr > undertaken to publish an annual record of progress in 
sconce, which will be equally indispensable to the general reader. 



232 Proc. o/Sci. Socs. and Selected Articles in Set. Serials. [March. 

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 

American Geographical Society, New York, January 13. — 
A paper was read by B. R. Curtis, Esq., entitled A voyage 
around the world. 

February 10. — Prof. John B. McMaster read a paper entitled 
the Bad Lands, or Mauvaises Terres, of Wyoming. 

New York Academy of Sciences, January 19. — Dr. H. A. 
Mott spoke on the diamond, its artificial production and uses. 

January 26. — Prof. J. S. Newberry remarked on some peculiar 
silver deposits in Utah and Colorado, and Mr. S. W. Ford spoke 
on the recent discoveries of fossils in the limestone of the Wap- 
pinger valley, N. Y. 

Boston Society of Natural History. January 21. — Mr. Dil- 
ler replied to Mr. Crosby's remarks on the felsites north of Bos- 
ton ; Mr. Crosby made a communication on distorted pebbles in 



February 4. — Dr. J. W. Fewkes described the pinnal sucker of 
certain Heteropods, and Mr. F. W. Putnam remarked on the for- 
mer Indians of Southern California and their relation to the 
origin of the red man of North America. At the meeting of the 
Section of Microscopy, Mr. M. E. Wadsworth spoke concerning 
the cutting of rock sections. 

Appalachian Mountain Club, January 14. — Prof. W. H. Niles 
delivered an address as the retiring president of the club. 

February 11. — Prof. E. C. Pickering spoke on atmospheric 
refraction, and Mr. W. H. Pickering addressed the club in refer- 
ence to future Arctic explorations. 

SELECTED ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

American Journal of Science and Arts. — February. Notice 
of recent additions to the marine fauna of the eastern coast of 
North America, by A. E. Verrill. The limbs of Sauranodon, by 
O. C. Marsh. 

The Geological Magazine. — January. On some fossil bird 
remains from the Siwalik hills, India, by VV. Davies. 

Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 1879.— On the Plesiosau- 
rians and Elasmosaurians of the Upper Jurassic, by M. Sauvage. 

Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. — January. On 
the development of the Spermatozoa. Part 1. Lumbricus, by J. E. 
Bloomfield. On the spinal nerves of Amphioxus, by F. M. Balfour. 

Canadian Entomologist.— January. Description of the pre- 
paratory stages of Grapta progne, by W. H. Edwards. 

Canadian Naturalist. — December 29, 1879. Preglacial for- 
mation of the beds of the Great American lakes, by E. W. Clay- 
pole. Note on recent controversies respecting Eozoon canadense, 
by J. W. Dawson. 



THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xiv. — APRIL, 1880. — No. 4. 
PROTOPLASMIC DYNAMICS. 

BY PROF. W. S. BARNARD, PH.D. 

'THE present general tendency of natural science is towards 
■•*- unification. Formerly it was truly " natural history," analyti- 
cally descriptive and distinctive, while morphological classifica- 
tions were formed on external resemblances known as analogies, 
or on internal structural analogies entitled homologies. But this 
stage of culture has passed its maturity, while the investigation 
of processes has introduced the natural, synthetic, explanatory 
stage, with its abundant results now appearing. 

The derivation of the physical forces from each other by trans- 
mutation, and from chemical and mechanical actions, which they 
are capable of originating again, the development of organisms 
from protoplasm, a substance, which, with its functions, all have 
m common, and the doctrine of the evolution of species, present 
only some of the most important advances made toward a unita- 
rian system combining all objects and operations together as they 
are derived from each other. While some chemists expect that 
organic chemical combinations may yet be obtained by uniting 
inorganic molecules in the laboratory as in the bodies of plants, 
and there are those who think With Haeckel that the very lowest 
living forms may arise by spontaneous generation from the higher 
carbon compounds, the physiologists have decided that there are 
chemical changes and physical forces associated with, and seem* 
mg to have a causal connection with, the production of organic 
powers and functions. But there can be no positive certainty of 
tms transition unless we can show how and tvhy it necessarily 
results. To effect this and to attempt to trace out the systematic 



234 Protoplasmic Dynamics. [April, 

combination of some of the fundamental operations, whether 
physiological, mechanical, physical or chemical, as they exist in 
one continuous process pertaining to protoplasmic things, is my 
present undertaking. 

I. — Protoplasm masses and molecules, or their parts, may be 
set in motion by the impact or attraction of active masses or 
molecules or atoms, without or within. 

The agitations thus imparting themselves are various and, be- 
cause communicative, may be regarded as excitants or incitive 
actions, already called stimuli or irritants. These include mass- 
motions, such as pressure, blows and friction; molecular motforti, 
chiefly vibratory or oscillatory, as sound, electricity, light and 
heat ; also atomic motions; and with these are the attractions be- 
longing to these divisions of matter respectively, as gravitation 
(weight), cohesion and adhesion (osmotic, diffusive, capillary, &c), 
and finally chemism. Important sources of some of these are the 
chemical reactions of oxygen, water, and the ingested nutriment, 
constituents with each other and with the protoplasm elements ; 
others proceed from contact with the active materials of the envi- 
ronment ; while the sun also continually contributes. 

II. — All the above disturbing forces tend to cause the displace- 
ment, mutilation, fission or decomposition of molecules or their 
parts, which is especially easily accomplishable against weak com- 
binations of ponderous, complex molecules, such as distinguish 
organic bodies. 

III. — When molecules or their parts are thus separated, their 
combining powers are set free, and this liberation of attractional 
forces will be sustained by the continued operation of the original 
displacement forces, or may become, to some extent, self-propa- 
gated after their cessation by the disturbance (heat, &c.) resulting 
from recombination; for the impact of every union manifests itself 
in new disturbing force, which, in turn, may disband other attrac- 
tions, from which further combinations follow. 

An illustration of this self-sustained process is common in every 
form of combustion. The little heat-agitation applied to a very 
small part of the mass to be consumed, frees attractions there, 
which satisfy themselves by uniting with the ever-present oxygen, 
thereby generating more heat, sufficient to renew itself by indu- 
cing further chemical reaction so long as fed with the material for 
consumption. 



i88o.] Protoplasmic Dynamics. 235 

IV. — These free combining powers, acting together, constitute 
plasma attraction or affinity, and are the force and source of 
organic power. Their mode of utilization we shall see further on. 

Though strange indeed that attraction as the great fountain of 
power in organisms has been overlooked, it has probably remained 
so from lack of seeing the application of this most abundant of 
all forces to the driving of the vital machine, even as we were late 
in learning the use of the expanding power of steam. Without 
looking among the attractions for the propelling power, the 
impression has prevailed that if anything is necessary, more than 
the assumption of an independent vital force, it must be looked 
for in forces like heat and electricity, which are freed by chemical 
combination, and evidently are of great importance, especially in 
the higher organisms as communicative and excitive of agitations 
inducing the liberation of attractions which collectively constitute 
the immediate organizing and working power. Concerning this 
matter Herbert Spencer (Princ. Biol., Vol. 1, pp. 55) says, " We 
have as yet no clue to the mode in tohicli molecular movement is 
transformed into the movement of masses." 

Also in this connection three papers may be cited as fairly 
showing the chief facts and theories bearing on this question and 
> the three kinds of active tissues of the 

1. Engelmann. Die Flimmerbewegung. Jenaische Zeitschrift, 

2. Charles. The mode of Propagation of Nervous Impulses. 

Journal of Anatomy for October, 1879. 
3- Armsby. The source of Muscular Power. Popular Science 
Monthly for October, 1879. 

The first of these is an exceedingly important volume of inves- 
tigations, showing the effects of chemical re-agents, and the 
physical and mechanical forces in accelerating or retarding, intro- 
ducing or stopping the action of dead and living cilia, also 
affirming the constancy and fundamental importance of the 
imbibitional swelling, and the conclusions of others, that like 
reactions are obtained from all the contractile tissues. 

The second defines the two propagation-processes attributed 
to nerve impulses; the vibratory hypothesis and the chemical 
hypothesis, giving the facts on which the latter is founded, with 
the conclusion that it necessarily partly includes the former. 



236 Protoplasmic Dynamics. [April, 

The final decision will probably be that both these processes exist 
throughout the gray protoplasm of the nervous system, but that 
the chemical predominates in the ganglial cells, the vibratory in 
the axial plasma. 

The third is a presentation of the chief facts- and conclusions 
pertaining to its subject, and with such decided bearings on the 
topic before us that we must notice it more particularly. By 
way of introduction the following statements represent a doctrine 
which is now largely taught and accepted. 

" The question of the source of muscular power is essentially 
a question concerning transformation of energy. The most char- 
acteristic distinction between plants and animals is, that the for- 
mer appropriate force from outside themselves, from sunlight, and 
store it up as potential energy in the various complex compounds 
which they form in ; while animals draw their supplies of force 
entirely from those compounds in which it has been stored up by 
plants, and from which it is set free again when they are decom- 
posed in the organism." 

" In a word, the plant converts the actual energy of the sun- 
light into the potential energy of organic compounds, the animal 
converts the potential energy of the organic compounds into 
actual energy, which manifests itself as heat, motion, electricity, 
etc. ; in the plant the spring is coiled up, in the animal it uncoils, 
exerting an amount of energy equivalent to that which coiled it. 
One of the forms which this energy takes on is that of muscular 
motion, which we thus trace back to the potential energy of food, 
and through this to that great source of all energy to our earth, 
the sun." 

" We are not, however, satisfied with knowing in this general 
way that it is the food we eat which serves as a vehicle to convey to 
us our needful supply of sun-force ." 

We agree that there is " energy of food," that "plants store up 
* * * * energy in the various complex compounds which they 
form in," but when it is called " sun-force " appropriated " from 
sun-light " and stored up, we dissent, for it is attractional force 
inherent in terrestrial matter independent of the sun, and from 
which probably none has been received since our globe was a 
part of her fiery mass. Similarly Professor Carpenter (Correlation 
and Conservation of Forces, pp. 404-5) speaks, "Thus in either 
case we come, directly or indirectly, to solar radiation as the main 
spring of our mechanical power; the vis viva of our whole 
microcosm." And thus too much power is now-a-days often at- 
tributed to the present influence of the sun and the uno'ulatory 



1 8 So.] Protoplasmic Dynamics. 237 

forces, and too little to the attractional forces of matter. The 
author speaks of the force several times as "potential" and 
"latent" energy, but these words in such connection are worth 
no more than blanks. This valuable conclusion agrees with that 
of Professor Flint (and others), — " All the facts seem to indicate 
•that muscular force originates in a splitting up of some substance 
in the muscle accompanied by the liberation of force" (p. 822). 
The next conclusion should be that a mbinmg A war is the only 
immediate force that can be freed by fission among muscle mole- 
cules. This will appear if we thoroughly understand the nature 
and relations of the powers in question, for it is necessary to dis- 
tinguish all forces sharply into two groups: 1, the attractional 
(gravity, adhesion, cohesion, chemism), and 2, the impactivc or 
momentum forces of masses, molecules and atoms (in mass- 
motions, sound, electricity, heat and light). Those of one group 
are not convertible into, but oppose those of the other, and while 
the latter set may, by opposition, often disengage the former, the 
latter are but the recoil (which may propagate itself) from the ac- 
tions produced by the former group. 

V. The plasma-affinity, which is the joint action of its freed 
attractions, is its imbibing force, exerting a hydraulic suction 
power, manifested in a circulation into the part affected and the 
resultant swelling of the same, from which all the mass motions 
of organisms proceed. 

The initial movement is the circulation among the attracting 
molecules with its general direction toward the point where the 
greatest amount of chemismic power is being freed, and such as 
necessarily precedes chemical unions of dilute fluid constituents 
with those of fixed, elastic, porous bodies ; for the matter im- 
bibed consists of the water solution of oxygen, nutriment and 
disengaged plasma-molecules. Most common examples of ex- 
pansive and circulatory movements resulting from combining 
power are not in their details parallel with those of the proto- 
plasmic substance. The activities from heat and from affinities 
freed by heat in ordinary combustion, which naturally come to 
mind first, present an altogether different case. If the combin- 
ing element, oxygen, was only in a solution permeating every - 

hvity would be, instead of a swelling of heated surrounding air, 
ar * expansion of the solid mass. And we must also remember 



238 Protoplasmic Dynamics. [April, 

that the protoplasm contains, besides oxygen, many other re- 
agents as its stored food-constituents ; that there are also more 
of the volatile elements in its composition, which is more com- 
plex while its consistency is that of elastic viscosity. Further, 
the oxidation in organic fluids cannot be so intense and generates 
but a comparatively small amount of heat, so little that it is 
eliminated by conduction without appearing in such vast quanti- 
ties as to induce a boiling or convectional circulation, while the 
chemical reactions of the* organized plasma-components are ex- 
ceedingly slow and weak, yielding but little heat. 

The intersusception and interpolation of new matter into the 
plasma is by imbibition, which also is the method of ingestion of 
nutriment by the plasma of cells and the lowest organisms. This 
imbibition process is a well-established concomitant to all plasma- 
action, but while its value as a nutritive power determining the 
peculiarities of nutrition and growth has been esteemed, its great 
importance in the production of mass-motions has not become 
understood. 

VI. — Imbibitional swelling, in some respects, simulates that 
resulting from inorganic absorption and diffusion, but is markedly 
different, especially since the engaged combining powers act 
stronger than those freed, so that it does not result in a dissolu- 
tion or solution of the imbibing substance, while the increase of 
distension intensifies its tension and elasticity. To understand 
the possibility of this swelling without rupture of the chemismic 
bonds in organic bodies, we may have to regard their constituents 
as grouped into filamentous branches or a spongy mesh, in sym- 
metrical order, and remember that they are certainly very com- 
plex, for, according to recent chemical theories, some of the 
albumenoid molecules may contain a thousand atoms. 

Let us now classify the principal kinds of plasma-motion while 
trying to explain how each is attained. 

i. Axial Procession.— -Let x—y represent a surface on which a 
mp of plasma is shown in sec- 
, the heavy portion of its out- 
indicating that part of its sur- 
face which is acted on by light or some other decomposing force. 
Imbibition from within to this tract is induced and it swells thereby 
' cavity pulls it down so 
of the front' margin 



7 




i88o.] Protoplasmic Dynamics. 239 

results while the upper and inner adjacent plasma supplies its 
place to swell and follow, and so on, the mass advances. This 
kind of motion is very common in some Amcebas. 

2. Axial Exsertion. — The imbibitional swelling may be still 
more local from either external or internal excitation and thereby 
produce pseudopodal protuberation, and in Amcebas we often 
observe the transition from the pseudopodal to the total proces- 
sion. In both cases these animals show a marked circulation 
towards the swelling point in the protruding part. 

3. Lateral Deflection may be produced in any elongated mass 
by lateral superficial imbibitional swelling, as in the light area 
of the pseudopod x — y causing 
its deflection to x—y'. By this 
method alternating from side to 
side, the vibrations of the pseudo- 
pods of free-swimming, rotating ' 
rhizopods and the flagellate and 
ciliate action of infusorians, rotifers 
and other organisms are effected, probably under control of elec- 
tro-chemical impulses in their own substance. The sort illus- 
trated above may be called the monomeric while the polymeric or 
undulatory form also appears 
as shown in the figure, the 
white swollen regions being 
several and alternately dis- 
posed. Again, should the imbibition follow a spiral line, spiral 
contortions and cycloidal figures result. 

A good method of showing imbibitional deflection is to use a 
very thin strip of gelatin, such as is employed by lithographers 
for tracings. Let a-b represent the sheet as 
seen edgewise and standing erect, held at a. fc> 

Now if it be breathed on gently at the poin 
indicated by the arrow, it will quickly bend ovei 
to b'. This is by imbibition of the moisture o 
the breath on one side causing it to swell. Th< 
thinner the sheet is the quicker will the flexure 
appear, and by comparison we may judge tha 
with filaments as fine as cilia it should resul 
with the same rapidity that characterizes cilia tfy 

motion. The thin mass erects itself as promptly 
of its own accord, but still more sudden if moisture be breathe 



240 Protoplasmic Dynamics. [April, 

on the opposite side. And thus by breathing on one side and 
then on the other the vibration back and forth may be produced 
several times. Of course, in actual cilia the conditions are very 
different, for the material to be imbibed is ever present, while the 
imbibitional attraction is alternately freed first on one side and 
then on the other apparently by a chemico-electric, electro-motor 
process. And those who think it necessary to suppose a vital 
force here must be reminded that, according to Engelmann (op. 
cit. pp. 463-4), weeks after death, on stinking, decaying mem- 
branes, the cilia can be set in action by adding their normal con- 
ditions of oxygen, water and temperature. 

4. Zonatc . //, in a monomeric form 
pertains especially to such retractile parts as pseudopods, some 
cilia, and unstriated muscle cells, from imbibition in a zone of the 
conical or cylindriform part. The engorgement of this zone causes 
an influx into it shortening the long axis and tending to yield a 

spheroid form. In this way muscle cells 
and pseudopods broaden and shorten 
themselves, the latter sometimes to such 
an extent as to attain the diameter of the 
main mass, into which they thus merge. 
In the diagrams the light pruts represent 
the expanding zones. With the poly- 
meric form of the striated muscle cells, 
undulatory outlines result from the swell- 
ing of many successive zones giving 
greater and quicker contraction than in 
the smooth spindle cells. In this connection it must be borne in 
mind that a muscle's action is only a resultant of the joint action 
of all its cells and that- attraction is the vis a tergo of organic ex- 
pansion and contraction. 

5. Contra-actional retraction we can presume as the reverse of 
the exsertive, its center of imbibition being at the base of the 
pseudopod which becomes drawn to it. 

6. Sphterogenk ballancemtnt would occur from equal expansion 
in all directions and cause the mass to assume a spherical form. 

VII. — The processes described above produce all the mass- 
motions of organisms, which are of many kinds and may be chiefly 
grouped as : 

1. Locomotive, for transporting individuals from place to place. 




i88o.] Protoplasmic Dynamics. 241 

2. Supportive, for maintaining the normal relative position of 
parts and opposing gravity. 

3. Prehensional, including all kinds of manipulatory actions. 

4. Peristaltive, the motor actions of hollow organs on their con- 
tents, embracing swallowing, gastrition, peristaltition, the contrac- 
tions of sphincters, the heart, blood-vessels (circulative), &c. 

VIII. — The molar and mass-impact and frictional* wear and 
tear from the above operations yield mechanical heat and elec- 
tricity with structural degeneration. 

IX. — To maintain the conditions of all these activities the com- 
bining process must go on intermittingly or constantly. The 
fractional molecules must unite with each other, with imbibed 
food-constituents (nutritive assimilation) or with oxygen. 

X. — From this we have chemical heat and electricity with the 
processes of protoplasmic extraction, secretion and excretion of 
fluids. Though heat and electricity must naturally appear more 
or less from all the chemical unions in plasma of whatever tissues, 
we may look upon the oxidizing process as the greatest source of 
chemical heat, while the ganglial and muscle cells are to be 
looked upon as the batteries in which chemical combination 
generates most of the neural electricity. To illustrate the rela- 
tions existing here, we may suppose the light to cause molecular 
agitation in the retinal nerve-ending and to propagate itself inward. 
Entering the ganglial plasma, it frees attractions, whence recom- 
bination results, generating nerve electricity discharged along the 
motor nerve and naturally causing some chemical reaction in it, but 
producing its greatest effect in the terminal muscle cell, which is 
charged as a receiver, the continued agitation keeping its attrac- 
tions freed, sustaining imbibitional zonate expansion with axial 
contraction, from which mass-motion results. In the so-called 
voluntary motion it would seem as though the ganglial agitation 
was excited from within and the same consequences follow. 
The recombination occurring in the muscle substance probably 
also generates recurrent electricity, which reacts upon the nerve 

Finally, organic combining power is not only motor power, 
but also "growth-force," the vis a tergo of plasma-nutrition, 
growth and development, producing (by cooperation with con- 
ditioning forces) all the diverse and wonderful form-phenomena, 



242 A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. [April, 

the kinds of which, like the varieties of mass-motion, are deter- 
mined through localized imbibition. On this account, and be- 
cause the motor acts have laid out the paths of growth, the paral- 
lelism between the series of morphological processes and of the 
motor processes is strikingly complete; but a presentation of these 
details, in the same order, must remain for the future. 



A SKETCH OF COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY. 

BY CHARLES SEDGWICK MINOT. 
II.— THE FERTILIZATION OF THE OVUM. 



IN the previous article we traced the relation of the genoblasts, 
or sexual products, to the cells from which they arise. We 
have now to consider the manner in which these products effect 
the creation of a new and complete animal. Now, the bodies of 
all animals are composed of cells and the productions of cells, 
hence to make an animal the first thing is to furnish cells. Ac- 
cording to the theory propounded in the last article, an egg rep- 
resents one part, a spermatozoon another part of a cell, hence a 
fusion of the two would again make a single perfect cell. This 
fusion actually occurs, and is called the impregnation or fertiliza- 

Our knowledge of this phenomenon is extremely imperfect. 
It has, however, been the object of several important researches 
during the last few years, but we must wait for much more 
extended investigations before we can make any satisfactory gen- 
eralizations. The following order of events is that which our 
present knowledge renders most probable— it must be remem- 
bered that we are dealing only with a probability. A single 
spermatozoon enters the egg and fuses with it. After the ejec- 
tion of the polar globules, the nucleus of the egg is a small body 
which lies near the periphery, immediately underneath the globules. 
It then is called the female pronucleus, and travels — why or how 
is not known — towards the center of the egg, where it finally 
remains. A system of radiating lines runs out from it into the 
yolk, making, together with the pronucleus, the so-called female 



i88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 243 

At some time during these changes, whether sooner or later 
perhaps does not matter, a single spermatozoon enters the egg. 
As the egg or yolk is surrounded by envelops, it is evident that 
either the spermatozoa must enter before the coverings are 
formed, or that it must have some way of passing them. For 
instance, in the hen the spermatozoa attain the yolk before the 
hard shell is formed in the oviduct. In other instances there is a 
special opening, often having a peculiar structure, which admits 
the passage of the spermatozoa, and is . 

called the micropyle, Fig. 10. This 
opening is of course not an essential 
part of an egg, and merely permits the 
egg to be protected by an impermeable 
shell without excluding the spermato- 
zoon. It is asserted that in some cases myzon, the head having ti- 
the micropyle is not a real opening, but jjj£ 3S? SfoerU? miC . r °" 
only a permeable spot through which 
the spermotozoon can work its way (Kupffer). 

It was stated above that only a single spermatozoon enters the 
yolk. The way in which the entrance of a second one is pre- 
vented is not definitely determined yet. It has, however, been 
stated by Fol and by Kupffer and Benecke that in the eggs 
observed by them (star-fish and lamprey) there is no vitelline 
membrane around the egg until after impregnation, when a com- 
plete envelop is rapidly formed by the yolk, effectually excluding 
all other spermatozoa. If this view is correct, then the egg has 
no proper cell membrane until after its fertilization ; and all the 
coverings it has before that event, are only secreted around it by 
other cells, and not by itself. 

W hen a spermatozoon penetrates into an egg, the head goes in 
first ; after which the nucleus it contains loses its peculiar shape, 
transforming itself within the yolk into a small spherical or irreg- 
ularly-shaped male pronucleus. The tail disappears— how is not 
known. This pronucleus, like the female, is surrounded by 
radiating lines, so that there is also a male aster. At this time 
tllc C SS. as shown in Fig. II, contains two pronuclei, and is still 
connected with the polar globules. The second pronucleus also 
travels towards the center of the egg, where the two pronuclei 
meet, both having meanwhile enlarged considerably. After 
coming in contact the two pronuclei fuse completely, making a 



y" 



244 A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. [April, 

single body, to which the very appropriate name of segmentation 

nucleus has been given. Possibly a contraction of the impreg- 

p.g. nated egg always occurs, either during 

/ /^~~~ ; "" ■ .'Cl^ or immediately after the entrance of the 

c .._"' '~® spermatozoon, so that a space intervenes 

between the yolk and the envelops of 

C. the egg. As little heed has been paid 

to this point, we are uncertain about it. 

We thus have seen that a male and 

female element unite and make a single 

Fig II— Em of Nephelis P erfect cel1 - This fact offers a v . er >' 

three hours after laying. ,„, strong support to the theory that cells 

/.-., 'polar globules; after iiert- contain two sexual constituents in a 

wig. latent condition, and are therefore to be 

considered either hermaphroditic or sexless. 

it has long been known that the egg of every animal must be 
impregnated by the spermatozoa of its own species, while on the 
other hand reproduction is dependent upon a certain dissimilarity, 
the existence of which is well established, although its nature 
cannot be even hypothetically explained. When the parents have 
been closely related for several generations, the sexual products 
alter in such a way that they cannot produce a complete animal 
by their fusion, although fusion with an element from another less 
closely related individual is still effectual. From these circum- 
stances arises the necessity of cross breeding, a fact which has 
been so much discussed in public that I need not occupy further 
space to describe it. In a very few cases the genoblasts of nearly 
related species may unite efficiently, producing an animal par- 
taking of the character of both parents — in short, a hybrid. Such 
exceptions are, however, extremely rare. 

Since the offspring inherit the peculiarities of the parents, it is 
evident that the transmission must take place through the geno- 
blasts, and various theories have been propounded to account for 
it, but no view has yet been brought forward which can justly be 
termed satisfactory, not even excepting the theory of pangenesis. 

The formation of the impregnated egg, with its segmentation 
nucleus, marks the beginning of new cycle of life, for the cell so 
formed is endowed with a mysterious and remarkable power, 
which entirely distinguishes it from almost every other kind of 
cell known at present. The fertilized ovum is charged with forces 



i88o.] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 245 

which cause it to divide into numerous cells, and cause these cells 
to arrange themselves upon the model of the parents which formed 
the egg and spermatozoa, and to imitate the peculiarities of the 
cells in each locality, making an eye where the parent had an eye, 
a gland where the parent had a gland — only the imitation is 
imperfect, the offspring is not absolutely the same as the parent. 
Evidently the fusion of the genoblast is the source of an increased 
vitality and of a formative power which is specific in each case, 
i. e., the action and result of which is predetermined. 

This marvelous formative power has always excited the inter- 
est and astonishment of naturalists. It is one of the fundamental 
distinctions of life, since no similar power occurs in inorganic 
nature. It is important to note, therefore, that it must enter into 
all cells, otherwise some of them would not form in the right 
place and manner. That other cells than the fertilized ovum 
contain such a power is shown by the formation of buds and 
strobila, and more strikingly by the development of pseudova. 
In the latter instance, the development begins with a cell arising 
in the ovary, and which resembles an ordinary egg very closely. 
Such cells are formed in various animals, notably in the plant 
lice, but, although they are so like eggs, the pseudova differ by 
being capable of developing into a complete animal without 
impregnation. ■ 

For want of space, it is impossible to describe the formation of 
buds and strobila, let it therefore suffice to say, that the reproduc- 
tion depends in both cases upon the separation of a cluster of cells 
(instead of a single cell or pseudovum) from the body of the pa- 
rent. This cluster grows up into a complete animal, in which the 
structure of the parent, or sometimes of the grandparent, is imi- 
tated by the action of the formative force of the cluster of cells. 
Hence it is evident that a similar power is bestowed upon several 
cells, which is the thesis we started to prove. 

Ill— SEGMENTATION AND THE FORMATION OF THE 
GASTRULA. 

After the impregnation has been completed, and the two pro- 
nuclei have fused, to form tin segmentation-nucleus, there usually 
follows a period of quiescence, during which no visible changes 
occur. It is not known whether such a period is always intercalated 
m the course of development; but it has been observed frequently. 
After this pause the process of segmentation begins, which has for 



246 



A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 



[April, 



its essential purpose the multiplication of cells ; the further his- 
tory of the egg is a description of the way in which the cells, con- 
stantly on the increase, arrange themselves in definite order, until 
they have gradually created, or, more truly, become, the adult 
animal. The object of embryology is to discover the laws ac- 
cording to which this arrangement is developed. 

We, of necessity, begin with a study of the process of segmenta- 
tion ; but the details are so numerous that we can indicate only a 
few of them. The first result is the formation of two sets of cells. 
In one set the cells are small ; in the other set they are large. 
Except in the sponges, the small cells form the outside covering 
of the body, appearing as a sac, or vesicle. The large cells form 
the lining of the digestive canal, or primitive stomach, and are, 
therefore, enclosed in the outer vesicle made by the small cells. 
It appears that this disposition arises in two entirely distinct ways. 
First, the cells formed by segmentation arrange themselves in the 
shape of a sphere, hollow inside, and its walls consisting of a con- 
tinuous layer of cells. One half is composed of small cells ; the 
other half of large cells. Second, the result of segmentation is 
likewise a hollow sphere, but with double walls; the outer wall 
of small cells, the inner wall of large cells. In both cases the 
sphere transforms itself into a so-called gastnda. In the first in- 
stance, the large cells become inverted inwards, or, in technical 
language, invaginated ; while the small cells grow down and 
around the others, until they encase them, leaving only a small 
opening, the primitive mouth. In the second instance, an open- 
ing breaks through both walls, thus making a mouth. This 
method of development is 
much rarer than the other, 
and unfortunately has never 
been studied in a thoroughly 
satisfactory manner. 

The accompanying figure 
displays diagram matically the 
principal forms of gastruke. 
A is a very simple form, such 
as occurs among Echino- 
derms. The .difference in 
size between the two sets of 
cells is slight, but evident. In B, the difference is more marked, 




i88o.] A Sketch oj Comparative Embryology. 247 

and fairly represents a gastrula of Amphwxus. In C, the differ- 
ence is very great, and corresponds to a form observed in certain 
Gasteropods. In D, the inner set is no longer separated into dis- 
tinct cells, although there are a number of nuclei, each of which 
marks the center of a future cell. In such an instance we should 
regard the whole inner set as a nutritive yolk, not yet transformed 
into a definite cell-layer. This figure is particularly instructive, 
because it shows that what wc call the yolk is not something dis- 
tinct from the germ, but really belongs to 
the inner layer of the embryo. E shows a 
similar egg, in which the outer set of cells JL^n, 
has not yet grown around the yolk. This 
outer layer was called by the earlier ernbn 
ologists the blastoderm, in all those egg- i 
with a great deal of yolk. F shows ti 
same egg not in section, but seen from the \ ? 
outer surface, to exhibit the cap of small \ 
cells, or the blastoderm, resting upon the \ 
large yolk. Those eggs in which the differ- FlG /^^, tion of 
ence in size between the two sets of cells is the Masto 
not excessive (A-C) are called holobhtstic, »»'™rius, after B.bre.zky. 
while those in which the yolk remains more or less intact for a 
considerable time (D-F) are termed meroblastic. 

In order more fully to illustrate the peculiarities of the process 
of segmentation, it is necessary to consider the 
holoblastic eggs further. Fig. 13 represents an 
actual section of an egg of the sow-bug, Oh 
after Bobretzky, corresponding very nearly to the ■ 
diagram E, of Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is a similar sec- | 
tion through the egg of a moth {Pieris crat 
and shows a number of nuclei, each surrour 
by a little mass of protoplasm, and scatt I 
^regularly through the yolk. Their number \ 

gradually increases, and each one becomes the ^ y 

center of a distinct cell. This is merely a pecu- 1j( .!'/' 
har modification of the ordinary method of cell in^ « ^ m th. 

division into two equal parts, for in the moths and " ° Ktl 
butterflies and some other animals the large volk divides gradually, 
by forming several nuclei, and so breaking up into a considerable 
number of cells piled up one over the other. We shall have oc- 



2 4 8 



A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 



[April, 



casion to recur to this matter in speaking of the development 
of vertebrates. 

The embryology of sponges is important because they do not 
have any gastrula. It will be described in our next article. Ex- 
cept in the sponges, the small cells form the outside layer and are 
called the ectoderm, while the large cells form the inside layer, or 
entoderm. In England the attempt has been made to substitute 
epiblast for ectoderm, and hypoblast for entoderm, but the change 
seems to me useless and confusing. In face of the present ten- 
dency to substitute new and difficult for old and simple names 
every protest is desirable. Compounding English polysyllables 
from Latin and Greek confers, in most cases, no benefit to science. 
The coining of such terms ought to be restricted in its applica- 
tion to things which have no accepted name and for which no 
straightforward English term can be found. 

The next progress after the formation of the ectoderm and ento- 
derm does not occur 
among all animals, but 
only in those above the 
Ccelenterates. I refer to 
the development of a dis- 
tinct middle layer of cells, 
the mesoderm, situated as 
shown in Fig. 15, be- 
tween the two primitive 
layers. Of the 
and characteristics of the 
mesoderm I shall treat i 
the next article. 

A great many embryo 
live in the water, and have 
the power of locomotion long before they have any 
For this purpose the ectoderm in these forms is provi 
cilia or vibratile hairs, which may be longer (Fig. 15) 01 
In most free embryos, moving by cilia, we find distinct bands, 
along which the cilia are more developed and powerful ; 
ciliated bands are often pigmented, while the rest of the embryo 
is transparent 

The authorities for the general views advanced above are t 




1 880] A Sketch of Comparative Embryology. 249 

discussions in a long series of special papers. Prof. Haeckel 1 has 
written a great deal upon the- gastrula and its significance, and 
has published several popular works on embryology. Unfortu- 
nately, he is inaccurate and untrustworthy to a degree surpassing 
any other scientific writer I can recall, for on almost every page 
are mistakes it requires little knowledge to detect. He is, there- 
fore, utterly useless to the beginner. I mention this, not alone as 
my personal conviction, but also as the judgment of competent 
and distinguished critics, some of whom are even more severe in 
their, condemnation. For these considerations I shall not quote 
Haeckel as an authority. The references to some of the special 
papers I have consulted will be given hereafter. 



3 J 


Aga* 


iz, Alexander 


. Critique d< 


: la Gastrsea theorie. 


(Trai 


luit par ! 


Schneider 




Arch. 


, Zool. expt. : 


Lome iv, p. ix 


; (1875; 


1. Also Mem 


. Ame 


r. Acad. : 


x, No. 3. 




Lankester, E. Ray. 


On the Pri 




Cell Layers 


of the 


Embryc 


>, etc., et 




Ann. 


and Ma-. ,.f 


Nat. History. 












33- 


• 


. ITZZZ 


c Embry. .%»;;} 








umalKi: 


*dom,rt 


34- 


Mill..! 


, C. S. Rec< 


-nt Invcsti- ,ti 






, etc. 


Proc. Boston S. I 




H. 


Vol. xix, p. 1 


05. (A brief 






















ZZol2TZ\„ 


lilTZZ 


sTv 


ions ,1c l'Emb 


ryolog 
875). 


; l ll cl 


assi.icatio 


36. 




iky. Bemerk 


ri.'.'n AhZl 


laeekel 


•Mr.' ill' 


Archiv f 


■ Nat urge 


37- 


Bd. I. Jahrg. 4 o( 
phys. med. Gesell. 


itische Gauge 


Bd. (is 


in. Die Ke 

73). P- 222. 


— 


ter theoi 


:ie. Verl 



250 Progress of L;. ■ i ':>>'. Paleontology in [April, 

PROGRESS OF INVERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY IN 
THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR 1879. 



AS the operations of men's minds are not subject to the calen- 
dar, it is difficult to select any specified period of time and 
say just what progress in any one branch of investigation has 
been made within it. Therefore, in this popular review of Ameri- 
can palaeontological labors for 1879, both the distal and proximal 
boundaries of the year will be held somewhat loosely. That is, 
in giving a summary of the work done, all writings will be men- 
tioned which have been published either originally or in their 
latest form, even such as appeared in the earliest days of the 
year ; and mention will be made, not only of such works as are 
known to be in press at the close of the year, but also of such as 
are known to be in course of preparation then. These anticipatory 
notices have been made from information kindly communicated 
by the various authors who are referred to. No work, however 
inconspicuous, has been intentionally omitted from bibliographi- 
cal notice, but even the most obscure are mentioned, leaving ihe 
question of sufficiency or insufficiency of publication to be 
decided by the custom of naturalists. The writer, in connection 
with Prof. H. Alieyne Nicholson, having published a Bibliogra- 
phy of North American Invertebrate Palaeontology, which, with 
a supplement, extended to the close of the year 1878, the follow- 
ing account of the publications for 1879 may be made, to serve 
rudely as a continuation of the portion of that bibliography which 
relates to the United States. The reader may readily separate 
this bibliographical matter from the personal gossip, of which the 
article is largely composed. 

The list of Americans now living who have at some time or 
other, and to a greater or less extent, contributed to the literature 
of invertebrate palaeontology, is a rather long one, and yet the 
names of a large majority of them do not appear in connection 
with any publication of the past year. Among the active workers 
in this field is first to be mentioned the veteran palaeontologist, 
Prof. James Hall, who is still engaged with his great series of 
works for the State of New York, upon which he has bestowed 
the unremitting labor of almost forty years, no one of which has 
been more fruitful of important results than the one just passed. 



1 8 So.] the United States for the year 1879. 2 5 l 

Volume v of his great series is just completed, and will, doubt- 
less, be in the hands of scientific workers within a few weeks. It 
is in two parts — really two volumes — part 1 containing the text, 
and part 11 the plates. I regret that it has not been practicable to 
obtain a resume of the contents of this volume, but it is safe to 
say that it is a worthy companion of any one of the series which 
has preceded it, the appearance of each one of which has marked 
an epoch in the literature of American palaeontology. In 1862 
Prof. Hall published in the Transactions of the Albany Institute, 
descriptions of a large and remarkable collection of Niagara fos- 
sils at the then newly-discovered locality near Waldron, Indiana. 
In 1876 he published in the documentary edition of the Twenty- 
eighth Report of the Regents of the University of New York, 
full illustrations of these fossils, but without any accompanying 
text. In the museum edition of the Twenty-eighth Report, just 
printed, Prof. Hall publishes full descriptions of all those fossils, 
together with the republished illustrations, embracing more than 
one hundred pages of text. In March of 1 879, he also read before 
the Albany Institute, " Descriptions of New Species of Fossils from 
the Niagara Formation at Waldron, Indiana." This work is now 
published in the form of a twenty-page pamphlet, and contains 
descriptions of upward of forty new species and one new genus. 
Asiipha-istocrinus. Paleontologists will rejoice that this remark- 
able fauna of the Niagara period is at last fully before them. 
In addition to the descriptions and illustrations of the Niagara 
fossils, Prof. Hall also publishes in the Twenty-eighth Report 
just mentioned, a paper, illustrated by three large plates, entitled 
" Notice of some remarkable crinoidal forms from the Lower 
Helderberg Group." I le here establishes the new genus Camaro- 
criuus, of which he describes three species. Apart of the re- 
markable fossils upr.n which this paper is based have been in the 
hands of Prof. Hall for many years ; and a part of them were 
lately collected in Tennessee by Prof. J. M. Safford, who read a 
paper on them last summer at the Saratoga meeting of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of Science. Besides these 
•mportant works, Prof. Hall has a brief illustrated article on 
the genus Plumulina in the Thirtieth Report of the New York- 
State Museum, just published, and he also read a paheon- 
tological paper at the Saratoga meeting of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science. The Thirty-second 



252 Progress of Invertebrate Paleontology in [April, 

Report of the New York State Museum is in press ; it contains 
descriptions of the Bryozoa of the Lower Helderberg group, 
adding fifty or sixty species to the list of those published in a 
former report ; all being the work of Prof. Hall. 

The time of Prof. R. P. Whitfield, for the past year, has been 
largely employed in his duties at the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History at New York, and at the Troy Polytechnic Institute, 
but he has, meantime, continued his work upon the Palaeontology 
of the States of Ohio and Wisconsin, the results of which are to 
appear in Vol. ill of the former and Vol. 1 of the latter, respect- 
ively, both of which volumes are well advanced toward comple- 
tion. At the Saratoga meeting of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, he read a paper on the Occurrence 
of rocks representing the Marcellus shale of New York, in Cen- 
tral Ohio; and published in the September number of the Ameri- 
can Journal of Science, and Arts, p. 22, a note on the Occurrence 
of Maclurea magna in the Barnegat (Chazy) limestone near New- 
burg, N. Y. These are brief papers, but they are important 
applications of palneontological identification of fossil forms to the 
elucidation of geological problems. 

Besides these, he has published in the same journal for January, 
1880, pages 33-42, an article on " New Forms of Fossil Crusta- 
ceans from the Upper Devonian of Ohio," in which he proposes 
the genera Echinocaris and PahEopala -won, describing three new 
species under the former, and one under the latter genus. He 
has also prepared a description and figures of a large and inter- 
esting Cretaceous brachyuran crustacean, Paramithrax{?)zi<alkeri, 
which will appear in connection with the palseontological work of 
the writer of this article, in the Annual Report for 1878 of the 
U. S. Geological Survey, lately in charge of Dr. Hayden. His 
work for the Palaeontology of Ohio will be illustrated by from 
fourteen to eighteen plates of figures. One of these plates will 
be devoted to the illustration of his new forms of Devonian Crus- 
taceans already mentioned, a^id one of them, in part, to the illus- 
tration of those forms upon which he bases his conclusions of 
the occurrence of Marcellus shale in Ohio, also before mentioned. 
The report will contain descriptions of new and known forms 
from the Lower Helderberg, Upper Helderberg and Upper De- 
vonian ; also the entire known fauna of the Maxwell limestone 
(=Chester and St. Louis series) and some other upper and lower 



i88o.] the United 'States for the year 1879, 2 53 

Carboniferous forms, some of which are referred to the horizon of 
the Burlington limestone. 

His work on the Palaeontology of Wisconsin is now ready for 
the printer and engraver, and will be issued some time during the 
year 1880. A total of one hundred and eighty-nine species are 
illustrated by twenty-six plates of figures, which fossils are 
referred to the following formations : Potsdam, Lower Magnesian, 
Trenton and Galena, Hudson River, Niagara, Guelph, Lower 
Helderberg and Hamilton. 

He recognizes Triplegia, Holopea and Bcllcrophon, and a second 
species of Pahvacmcea in the Potsdam ; and also lillipsocephalus 
and the peculiar genus Aglaspis, of Hall, in the same formation, 
thus adding materially to our knowledge of the fauna of the Pots- 
dam period, and to the previously known range of some of the 
genera mentioned. The Lower Magnesian epoch he finds repre- 
sented in Wisconsin by the genera Dikellocephahts, Ilhenurus, 
Mctoptoma and Sacvogyra, the latter being a new genus of sinis- 
tral gastcropods. lie also proposes a new genus of corals, Cys- 
tostylns, among the f>^;is of the Niagara group. His palseonto- 



lections have been described by Prof. Whitfield in the published 

lished in the forthcoming volumes for the first time. These works 
of Prof. Whitfield, all of which are practically finished, will be- 
come an important part of the pala>ontological literature of our 

The labors of Mr. S. H. Scudder in invertebrate palaeontology 

are confined almost wholly to fossil insects, but he has performed 
this work so well, and prosecuted it so vigorously, that no one 

engaged with his great work on the Tertiary insects of North 
America, which is now well advanced toward completion, and is to 
f, "'"i Vol. xiii of the quarto series of the U. S. Geological Survey 
of the Territories, lately in charge of Dr. Havden. His me- 
moir on the Paheozoic cockroaches has just issued in quarto 
form from the press of the Boston Society of Natural History, in 
which about sixty species are enumerated and figured. A memoir 
ln the same form and from the same press, on Early Types of 



254 Progress of Invertebrate Palaeontology in [April, 

Insects, has also lately issued, and an abstract of it has appeared 
in the January (1880) number of the American Journal of Science 
and Arts, pages 72-74. An interesting article from his pen has also 
lately appeared in the Report of Progress of the Geological Sur- 
vey of Canada for 1877-1878, pages 175-185, on " The Fossil 
Insects collected in 1877 by Mr. G. M. Dawson in the interior of 
British Columbia." The insects described are all referred to the 
Tertiary period, and represent four orders ; one species being re- 
ferred to the Hymenoptera, two to the Diptera, ten to the Cole- 
optera and four to the Hemiptera. Among the latter he proposes 
the new genus Planophlebia. 

The duties of Prof. A. Hyatt at the Museum of the Boston 
Society of Natural History, have made such demands upon his 
time for the past year, as to retard the progress of his special 
investigations. He is still working, however, upon the Ammonites, 
being now specially engaged upon the Arietidce, and also upon 
the Steinheim shells. His only published work for the past year 
is embraced in a paper, by the writer of this article, on " Fossils 
of the Jura-trias of South-eastern Idaho," in the Bulletin of the 
U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories, Vol. v. Prof. Hyatt 
there proposes and diagnoses the new Cephalopod genus Mecko- 

Mr. W. H. Dall published in the Proceedings of the U. S. 
National Museum, Vol. 1, page 3, an interesting note on the 
occurrence of a Post-pliocene deposit containing recent species of 
marine shells in a semi-fossilized condition, at the head of a 
canon near San Luis Rey, California, twelve miles from the sea 
and six hundred feet above tide water. 

This determination of species is especially interesting and 
important, since it proves a considerable elevation of that coast 
to have taken place at a comparatively recent date. He also pub- 
lished in the same volume, pages 10-16, an article on "Fossil 
Molluscs of the Later Tertiary of California," describing six new 
species, and giving a table showing the known distribution of 
forms and the proportion of fossil and recent species respec- 
tively. 

Mr. Angelo Heilprin has published in the Proceedings of the 
Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia for 1879, three 
articles bearing respectively the following titles : " On some new 
Eocene Fossils from the Claiborne marine formation of Alabama;" 



i S8o. ] the United States for the year 1 879. 2 5 5 

" A comparison of the Eocene Mollusca of South-eastern United 
States and Western Europe in relation to the determination of 
identical Forms," and " Stratigraphical evidence afforded by the 
Tertiary Fossils of the Peninsula of Maryland." The first of 
these papers is illustrated by a plate of figures ; the other two 
embrace some important philosophical discussions. Mr. Heil- 
prin has begun the preparation of a monograph of the Tertiary 
Fossils of Eastern North America. 

George Jennings Hinde, Esq., F. G. S. of Surrey, England, 
published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for 
August, 1879, pages 352-369, an important memoir " On Cono- 
donts from the Chazy and Cincinnati group of the Cambro- 
silurian, and from the Hamilton and Genesee Slate divisions of 
the Devonian in Canada and the United States." Palaeontologists 
have been divided in opinion as to what class of animals these 
interesting remains belong to, and Mr. Hinde's important memoir 
still leaves us in doubt upon this point, although he has much 
enlarged our knowledge concerning the objects themselves. 

In 1878 Mr. U. P. James began, at Cincinnati, the publication 
of The Paleontologist, for which he is thus far the only writer. 
Four numbers have been printed, aggregating thirty-two pages 
octavo, two numbers of which have appeared in 1879. In these 
two numbers Mr. James describes twenty-one new forms of 
Lower Silurian fossils, and proposes two new fucoid genera, 
Saccophycus and Lochia. 

Mr. Victor W. Lyon described three new forms of Calceola 
from the Upper Silurian rocks of Kentucky, in the Proceedings 
of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia for 1879, 
pages 43-46. 

Mr. S. A. Miller has, during the past year, published in pam- 
phlet form, of thirty-five pages, a revision of his "Catalogue of 
Fossils found in the Hudson River, Utica Slate and Trenton 
groups, as exposed in the south-east part of Indiana, 
part of Ohio and northern part of Kentucky," which originally 
appeared in the Tenth Annual Report of the Geological Survey 



criptions of new species of 

cy;" the new forms being 
plates which that number 



256 Progress of Invertebrate Palceontology in [April, 

contains. In the July number of the same journal, pages 104-1 18, 
Mr. Miller has " Descriptions of twelve new Fossil species, and 
remarks upon others." The species are from the Hudson River, 
Niagara and Upper Helderberg groups, all being echinoderms 
except one fucoid, and all are illustrated upon the two plates 
which accompany the number. 

Prof. James M. Safford read a paper at the Saratoga meeting of 
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, on 
some remarkable Crinoids from Tennessee, which form the sub- 
ject, in part, of the article by Prof. Hall in the lately published 
edition of the Twenty-eighth Regent's Report, and which has 
already been mentioned. 

Mr. E. O. Ulrich has, in the April number of the Journal of the 
Cincinnati Society of Natural History, an illustrated article enti- 
tled " New genera and species of Fossils from the Lower Silurian 
about Cincinnati. He describes thirty-two species, and proposes 
three new genera, Lcp: 1 ia and Cratcripora. In 

the October, 1879, number of that Journal, pages 1 19-134, he has 
two articles entitled, respectively, " Description of a new genus 
and some new species of Bryozoans from the Cincinnati Group;" 
and " Description of a Trilobite from the Niagara Group of In- 
diana," both being illustrated. He has also lately personally 
published a thirty-two page pamphlet, " Catalogue of Fossils 
occurring in the Cincinnati Group of Ohio, Indiana and Ken- 
tucky." 

Lieut. A. W. Vogdes, in " Notes on the Geology of Catoosa 
county, Georgia," in the December number (1879) of the Ameri- 
can Journal of Science and Arts, page 477, names and briefly 
characterizes Calymene rostrata, a new Upper Silurian trilo- 

Messrs. Charles Wachsmuth and Frank Springer have pub- 
lished, in the last number for 1879 of the Proceedings of the 
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, a " Revision of 
the Palaeocrinoidae. Part I. The families Ichthyocrinidae and 
Cyathocrinidae." Those who have done original work with the 
palaeozoic crinoids, or attempted a critical study of them, can 
fully appreciate the importance of the work which has been 
undertaken by these authors. The portion now published is the 
first of a proposed series, and contains about one hundred and 
fifty pages and three plates of illustrations. It contains a discu;- 



1 88a] the United States for the year 1879. 257 

sion of the general subject and of the questions pertaining to the 
two families now considered ; a rearrangement of the genera and 
sub-genera under each, and lists of all the known species of each 
genus with their synonymy. 

Mr. C. D. Walcott, in four pages printed in advance of the 
Thirty-second Annual Report of the New York State Museum 
of Natural History, publishes " Descriptions of new speci'es of 
Fossils from the Calciferous formation," embracing five new forms. 
He has also published a pamphlet of thirty-eight pages and two 
plates, in advance of Vol. x, Transactions of the Albany Institute, 
with the triple title, " The Utica Slate and Related Formations ; 
Fossils of the Utica Slate; and Metamorphosis of Triarthrus becki." 
In these papers Mr. Walcott presents some interesting discussions, 
makes known important facts bearing upon the subjects indicated 
by the titles, and proposes the genera Cyathophycus and Disco- 
phycus. The Thirty-first Annual Report of the New York State 
Museum has lately been issued, which contains the final publica- 
tion of Mr. Walcatt's papers, " Notes on some sections of Trilo- 
bites from the Trenton limestone ;" " Note upon the Eggs of the 
Trilobite," and " Descriptions of new species of Fossils from the 
Chazy and Trenton limestone." Mr. Walcott has also much im- 
portant material in hand, which will, when published, add largely 
to our knowledge of the anatomy of the Trilobite. 

In the January (1879) number of the Journal of the Cincinnati 
Society of Natural History, Prof. A. G. Wetherby has an article 
entitled, " Description of a new family and genus of Lower Silu- 

the April number of the same journal. The proposed new family 
and genus {Enoploura) are founded on the Anomalocvstitcs (Atclo- 
cystites) balanoides of Meek, which Prof. Wetherby removes from 
the Cystidians, where it was placed by Meek, to the Crustacea. 
He also publishes in the April number of that journal, some 
interesting remarks upon the genus Pterotocrinus Lyon and Cas- 
sidy, with illustrations. He thinks the genus more nearly allied 
to EncalyptocriuHs than any other, and not nearly related to DUh - 
crinus, as has been formerly supposed by some palaeontologists. 
In the October number, pages 134-140, Prof. Wetherby has 
" Descriptions of new species of Crinoids from the Kaskaskfa 
group of the Sub-carboniferous," with one plate of i: 



258 Progress of Invertebrate Paleontology in [April, 

Professor A. Winchell has an investigation of the Cephalopods 
of Tennessee nearly completed, and is also pursuing his investi- 
gations of the Stromatoporidae. 

The writer of this article has published in Vol. v, of the Bulle- 
tin of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, the 
three, following " Palaeontological Papers :" No. 9—" Fossils of 
the Jura-trias of South-eastern Idaho," pages 105-118 ; No. 10— 
" Conditions of Preservation of Invertebrate Fossils," pages 
130-142, and No. 1 1 — " Remarks upon certain Carboniferous Fos- 
sils from Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, and cer- 
tain Cretaceous Corals from Colorado, together with descriptions 
of new Forms," pages 209-221. He has also in the same volume, 
pages 143-152, in connection with Prof. H. Alleyne Nicholson, 
a supplement to the Bibliography of North American Inverte- 
brate Palaeontology. The March number of the American Jour- 
nal of Science and Arts also contains an article from his pen 
entitled, "Remarks on the Jura-trias of Western North 

The most important of these papers is No. 9, relating to the 
discovery of Triassic types in the region indicated, the epoch of 
the Muschelkalk of Europe being fully recognized. It is in this 
paper that the new genus Meekoceras of Hyatt is diagnosed. 

The writer has also in press a series of Contributions to Inver- 
tebrate Palaeontology, seven in number, illustrated by thirty-eight 
lithograph plates. The first portion with ten plates has just 
been published separately, and is to appear in the Annual Re- 
port of the U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories for 1877, 
and the remainder in that for 1878. The fossils described and 
illustrated are from the following formations : Carboniferous, 
Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Laramie and Tertiary. A large 
proportion of these species have been described by the writer 
in different publications of the surveys, formerly in charge 
of Dr. Hayden and Prof. Powell respectively; a part are therein 
described for the first time, and the remainder are species that 
have, by different authors, been described in various publications, 
but not illustrated. These descriptions last referred to are mostly 
by the late Mr. F. B. Meek and Dr. B. F. Sherward. It has been 
the aim of the writer to illustrate all the species described by 
these two authors as well as others, so far as practicable ; and when 
the volumes in question appear, there will remain comparatively 



1 8 So.J the United States for the year 1879. 2 5 9 

few described species from strata of the western half of our 
country that will not have been illustrated. 

Besides the foregoing, the writer has also in press, for the Pro- 
' ceedings of the U. S. National Museum the following articles and 
notes : " Descriptions of new species of Carboniferous Inverte- 
brate Fossils;" " Descriptions of new species of Cretaceous Fos- 
sils from Kansas and Texas ;" " Note on the occurrence of Pro- 
ductus giganteus Martin, in California," and " Note on Criocardium 
and Elhmocardium." The three first-named papers are illustrated 
by seven plates of figures. In the first paper is proposed the new 
Crinoid genus Lecythiocriiuts, from the Upper Coal measures of 
Kansas. In the second, two species are described from the Da- 
kota beds of Kansas, collected by the' late Prof. Mudge, adding 
to our knowledge of the fauna there, which links the lower 
American Cretaceous with the upper much more closely than 
was formerly supposed. The discovery of that huge brachiopod, 
Productus giganteus, in the western part of the continent, where it 
has hitherto been unknown within its limits, is an interesting 
fact. The sub-genus Ethnwcardiuvi is proposed in the last-named 
paper for a Cardium (C. specw&m Meek and Hayden), which is 
without spinules, and has rows of cleanly-cut holes through the 
entire thickness of the test, which occupy the spaces between the 
ribs of the middle portion of the shell. 

Among the many important facts brought out in the " Contri- 
butions," it is there shown that many of the types by which the 
living North American land and fresh-water molluscan fauna is 
characterized, have descended to us almost entirely unchanged 
rom the Laramie period and, in some cases at least, from the 
still earlier Cretaceous epochs. Even some of the sub-divisions 
of genera, made by different' authors, and which some others 
have been slow to accept, as insufficiently founded, are found to 
have become established in those early times, and to have main- 
tained their slightlv diffe, ntiat. 1 ,latu< intact during the inter- 



260 A Review of the Modem Doe trine of Evolution. [April, 

upon invertebrate palaeontology than that of the Brachiopoda. 
For this reason mention should be made here of a memoir by 
Prof. W. K. Brooks, on the " Development of Lingula and the 
systematic position of the Brachiopods," published in Scientific 
Results for 1 878, Chesapeake Zoological Laboratory, Johns Hop- 
kins University, Baltimore, 1879. Prof. Brooks opposes the views 
so long and ably advocated by Prof. Morse, that the Brachiopoda 
are specialized worms, and presents his reasons for regarding 
them as more nearly related to the Polyzoans. 

The foregoing notes, so far as is known, embrace all the publi- 
cations that come within the scope of this article. There are, 
doubtless, other works in progress whose authors are waiting 
suitable opportunity to pursue their investigations. Prof. A. R. 
Grote has some uncompleted and unpublished notes on a new 
form of the remarkable crustacean genus Ensarcus Grote and Pitt, 
in the Waterlime group of Western New York. Prof. Verrill 
has also in hand the few fossils that were dredged from the sub- 
merged Tertiary beds off the north-eastern coast, but nothing has 
been published concerning the fauna of this Tertiary Atlantis 
since his article of last year in the Ameriean Journal of Seienee 
and Arts. 

It has often been a subject of remark during the past few 
years that invertebrate palaeontology was receiving comparatively 
little attention in the United States, but the foregoing makes a 
very satisfactory showing for the past year. The excellent char- 
acter also of much of the work that is being done by the younger 
palaeontologists promises well for the future. 



A REVIEW OF THE MODERN DOCTRINE OF 
EVOLUTION .— Conclu ded. 1 



III. Metaphysics of Evolution. 

I ENTER here upon a wide field, over which I can only skim 
on an occasion like the present. The subject has been 
already introduced by reference to consciousness as modifying 
1 A lecture deli y of Science, Oct. 27, 1879. 



1 880.] A Ri view of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. 26 1 

movement ; of course then if movement modify structure, the 
latter is influenced by consciousness. The word consciousness 
was then, and is now, used in its simplest sense, viz: as synony- 
mous with physical sensibility. Its lowest and most usual exhi- 
bition is the sense of touch ; the special senses, taste, sight, etc., 
are higher forms, while thoughts and desires arc organized pro- 
ducts of the same raw material. Consciousness cannot be 
denied to many of the inferior animals; indeed, if we grant it 

the lowest Frotozoon. That these humble creatures should 
possess it, is apparently quite as probable as that the very similar 
bioplasts of the brain of man should be its seat. 

Consciousness alone is not a sufficient basis for the develop- 
ment of mind. For this, one more element is necessary, and 
that is, memory. Impressions made by the environment are reg- 
istered, and soon cease to be present in consciousness. Under the 
influence of association the impressions return to consciousness. 
Associations are those of place, of the order of time, and ot 
similarity or difference in various qualities, as size, color or any 
other physical features. Experiences of these qualities are to all 
conscious beings either painful, indifferent or pleasurable. When 
association requires, events, objects or characteristics, are returned 
to consciousness in the order in which they cohere most firmly 
in the mind, which may or may not be that in which they entered 
it. The liking for or dislike to the object, are equivalent to an 
attraction to or repulsion from it. Thus experience is begotten : 
as its material increases, new combinations are formed, new rela- 
tions observed, and in the highest types of mind, laws are discov- 
ered. No one can deny memory to animals ; it is the medium of 
their education by man, and has been as well the means of their 
education by nature. Impressions cause a rearrangement of cer- 
tain elements of structure which give the form to consciousness 
•Hill it arises again. It is also probable that these arrangements 
are not the same as those which represent classifications and con- 
clusions, but that nevertheless the arrangement or organization of 
these is determined by the simpler arrangements caused by per- 
ceptive stimuli. Experience produces these combinations in the 
bioplastic aggregations of all animals, be they in the form of gan- 
glia, brains, or less specialized forms. Nowhere in the human or- 
ganism are the effects of effort and use so strikingly witnessed as 



262 A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. [April, 

in the increase of brain power ; and familiarity with the education 
of the lower animals shows that tins is the case with them also, 
though in a lesser degree than in man. 

If, then, we grant the propositions, first, that effort and use 
modify structure; and second, that effort and use are determined 
by mind in direct ratio to its development, we are led to the con- 
clusion that evolution is an outgrowth of mind, and that mind is 
the parent of the forms of living nature. This is, however, to 
reverse a very usual evolutionary hypothesis, viz: that mind is 
the product and highest development of the universe of matter 
and force. The contradiction is, however, not so absolute as at 
first appears. By mind, as the author of the organic world, I 
mean only the two elements, consciousness and memory. But it 
is the vjpw of some thinkers that consciousness is a product; that 
it is not only a correlative of force, but a kind of force. To the 
latter theory I cannot subscribe; when it becomes possible to 
metamorphose music into potatoes, mathematics into mountains, 
and natural history into brown paper, then we can identify con- 
sciousness with force. The nature of consciousness is such as to 
distinguish it from all other thinkable things, and it must be 
ranged with matter and force as the third element of the uni- 

It is true that unconsciousness does not imply absence of life 
as generally understood. A majority of the processes of lite are 
performed unconsciously by living creatures; mind itself being 
no exception to this rule. There is another class of acts whose 
performance produces sensation, but consciousness is not con- 
cerned in them as an immediate cause. Therefore, it is a com- 
mon endeavor to associate reflex and unconscious acts with the 
molecular movements of inorganic and non-living substances. 
But the one great difficulty in making this identification has 
never been surmounted. This is the different nature of the 
movements in the two cases. In non-living matter they are sim- 
ply polar, nothing more. In living beings they display design. 
Perhaps I use the word " design" in a new sense, but the expres- 
sion is nevertheless appropriate. What I mean is, that the move- 
ments of living things have direct reference to consciousness, to 
the satisfaction of pleasures, and to the avoidance of pains. The 
molecular movements within animals of the simplest class are the 
digestion of food and the elaboration of the materials of repro- 



l8So.] A Review of the Modem Doetriue of Evolution. 263 

duction. The molar movements of the simplest animals are to 
enable them to escape the pains of hunger and celibacy. More- 
over there is reason why the movements of living beings display 
design. We all know the nature of habits ; how they are per- 
formed unconsciously, and as automatically as digestion itself. But 
did any one ever know of a habit in an animal, whose origin he could 
trace. Which lias been formed in unconsciousness? According to 
our knowledge, habits are always the result of stimuli which arc 
consciously felt, and which cause by repetition or through reminis- 
cence a repetition of the resulting movement. After a sufficient 
number of repetitions such an act becomes a habit,*.*., is performed 
automatically, or without the intervention of effort, and frequently 
without consciousness. It thus becomes a part of the character . 
of the individual or species. This common phenomenon is 
explained by the hypothesis, that an organization of the centers 
controlling action is caused by the efforts of the animal under the 

mines the nature of the force expended, without further mental 
exertion of the individual. Such a process is education, and the 
result is an addition to the stock of faculties already on hand. 



Tin, 


s is explained the vast 


number of automatic and un 


cons 


;cious 


acth 


'ities displayed by an in 


mis ; to the same source, I be 


rliev 


e, the 


com 


mon reflex acts may h 


>e traced ; it even appears to 




prob- 


able 


that the organic functic 


)tis in general have had the s;m 




-igin. 1 


VVhi 


le these latter have mc 


xstlylong since passed beyonc 


I th- 


; con- 


trol 


of the mind, portions 


of the urogenital functions si 


ail 1 


in ger 


with 


in the confines of its j 


Lirisdiction. Thus have cons 


ciou 


isness 


and 


mind endowed living 1 




and 


this, 


Whi( 


:h may be called the" i 
»ent of design which U 
reflex- acts. 


^S:«« 


:s fc 


: th.' 


A 


s it has been maintain: 


zd above, that structure is th 


eeff 


ectof 


the 1 


:ontrol over matter e> 


:ercised by mind, it is evident 


: tlu 


il the 


e/ol 


ution of mind must 1 


)e directly followed by com 
. The science of pakeonto! 




tiding 


s 


tiates this themv in a 
J being generally occi 


ipied with simple functions, il 
lly nothing more than the p. 




issive 



264 A Review of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [April, 

climate, escaping enemies, and reproducing their kind. The 
struggles of animals have been on this platform, and mind has 
only been necessary to aid in accomplishing the ends above 
mentioned. Wonderfully effective machines for grinding, cutting, 
seizing and digging ; for running, swimming and flying have been 
produced. The development of mind proper must appear in the 
size and structure of the brain ; and though the history of the lat- 
ter in past ages must always remain, in large part, hidden from us, 
it is known that in the former respect there has been great progress 
made in various lines of animals. Now the line which has car- 
ried brain to its present development in man, the Quadntmana, 
has been Jeficient in special mechanical excellencies of the kind 
enumerated above. Perhaps primitive inferiority in these many 
respects has kept the Quadrumana under greater mental tension, 
and compelled them to exercise caution in their acts and give that 
opportunity to thought which was less demanded in the case of 
other animals. Furthermore, if they are less specialized in their 
mechanism than most other Mammalia, they are less restricted 
by it to peculiar modes of life. They are more versatile, and 
more capable of the adoption of new habits as a consequence. 
And here we have a glimpse of a most important principle in 
evolution, which is the keynote to its method; this is what I 
have called The Doctrine of the Unspecializcd. 

Palaeontology shows that the succession of living types has not 
been in a single straight line. It has been in many divergent 
lines, and a large number of them have not continued to the 
present time. The history of life has been well compared to a 
tree with divergent branches, many of which do not reach the 
elevation of the summit. Furthermore, in the many cases in 
which we can trace the lower lines to the present period, it is 
evident that in their present condition they could not have given 
rise to the higher forms. Each line, in fact, has developed to an 
extreme of specialization of structure, which it would seem is 
incapable of modification in any direction very divergent from 
that which it has already taken. Much less have such special- 
ized types been able to survive the environment for which they 
were designed; with important changes in that respect they have 
perished. A few examples will serve to illustrate my meaning. 
The direction of development has been from fishes, through ^ 
Batrachia and reptiles, to birds and mammals. But we cannot 



i88o.] A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 265 

derive any living type from the osseous fishes of the present or 
past ages ( Hyopomata): to find the origin of Batrachia, we must 
pass below these to more generalized and older forms, the Dipnoi, 
a class whose position in the system was for years a controverted 
point. We cannot obtain Mammalia from any of the existing 
types of reptiles, but we must go back to the Permian period, and 
trace their outlines in the Theromorpha of that day. In spite of 
the prophetic resemblance of these remarkable animals, they are 
inferior to later Reptilia in the structure of their vertebral column, 
and display resemblance to some of their immature stages, as 
well as to those of the Mammalia. Among mammals we cannot 
derive monkeys from Carnivora or Ungnlata, nor the latter from 
each other, but can only trace their close approximation in the 
Bunotherian types of the Lower Eocene. So with the great 
divisions of Ungnlata; Proboscidians, Hyrax, and the even and 
odd-toed orders must all be traced to the unspecialized Amblypoda, 
with small brains and five-toed plantigrade feet, as their ancestors. 1 
It is easy to perceive that the generalization and plasticity of all 
these forms has furnished the ground of their ancestral relation. 

We are now in a position to comprehend more clearly the 
general nature of evolution. The doctrine of the unspecialized 
teaches that the perfection produced by each successive age has 
not been the source or parent of future perfection. The types 
which have displayed the most specialized mechanism have either 
passed away, or, undergoing no change, have witnessed the pro- 
gress and ultimate supremacy of those who were once their 
inferiors. This is largely true of animals which have attained great 
bulk. Like those with perfected weapons, they have ever been 
superior to the attacks of other animals in their day, and doubt- 
less led, so long as food abounded, lives of luxurious indolence. 
With change or diminution of food, such huge beasts would be the 
first to succumb, and it is a fact that no type of land animals has 
maintained great size through many geologic changes. It is true 
that all of the lines of ancestry of the existing higher Mammalia, 
as the subdivisions of the Carnivora, Ungnlata and Quadmmana, 
which we know in detail, commenced with types of small size and 
correspondingly little muscular power. 

Some important conclusions may be derived from what has 



,8 74- This view was subsequently expired !.y Huxley. 



266 A Rcvictv of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. . [April, 

preceded. It seems that evolution has witnessed a continual run- 
ning down of types to their great specialization or extinction. 
That many types have arisen in weak and small beginnings, but 
that the conflict with more powerful forms has developed some 
qualities in which they sooner or later excelled, and which formed 
the basis of their future superiority and persistence. That while 
this has probably been the true cause of the origin of the many 
admirable mechanical adaptations displayed by animals, it is pre- 
eminently true of the development of mind. That the reason 
why progress has reached its limit in the lines of greatest spe- 
cialization, has probably been the removal of the occasion of its 
original cause, i. e., active exercise in the struggle for existence. 
This explanation is suggested by the remarkable degradation 
which is witnessed in animals whose mode of life relieves them 
from the necessity of working for a livelihood, e. g., the parasites 
and sessile animals whose young are free. Some of these crea- 
tures, on assuming their parasitic life, lose the semblance of even 
the order to which their young belong. The primary stages of 
various plants move actively through the water like the lowest 
forms of animals, and their sessile adult condition must be looked 
upon as a degeneration. It is well known that the endeavor to 
relegate the lowest forms of life to the two kingdoms of animal 
and vegetable, has been generally abandoned. The great vegeta- 
ble kingdom probably exhibits a life degraded from more animal- 
like beginnings. Animal irritability and mobility have been lost, 
and their own consciousness must be entirely eliminated from the 
question of the origin of the many later and specialized types of 
plants. But I venture here the hypothesis that the consciousness 
of plant-using animals, as insects, has played a most important 
part in modifying the structure of the organs of fructification in 
the vegetable kingdom. Certain it is that insects have been 
effective agents in the preservation of certain forms of plants. I 
would suggest whether the mutilations and strains they have for 
long periods inflicted on the flowering organs, may not, as in 
some similar cases in the animal kingdom, have originated pecu- 

Kvolution of living types is then a succession of elevations of 
platforms on which succeeding ones have built. The history of 
one horizon of life is, that its own completion but prepares the 
way of a higher one, furnishing the latter with conditions of a 



1 880.] A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 267 

still further development. Thus the vegetable kingdom died, so 
to speak, that the animal kingdom might live ; having descended 
from an animal stage to subserve the function of food for 
animals. The successive types of animals have first stimu- 
lated the development of the most susceptible to the conflict of 
the struggle for existence, and afterwards furnished them with 
food. Doubtless in the occupation of the world's fields, the 
easiest and nearest at hand have been first occupied, and succes- 
sively those which were more difficult. The digging animals are 
generally those which first abandoned the open field to more 
courageous or stronger rivals ; and they remain to this day gen- 
erally of low type compared with others of their classes (e. g., 
Mouotranata, RoJcntia, Insectivora). All occupations have been 
filled before that one which requires the greatest expenditure of 
energy,*.^., mental activity. But all other modes' of life have 
fallen short of this one in giving the supremacy over nature. 

Automatism then represents a condition of " lapsed intelli- 
gence" and diminished life. The unconscious automatism of 
animals is a condition of still greater lapse. On the contrary, 
sensibility is the condition of development, and the susceptibility 

the especial character of youth. Here the " doctrine of the 
unspecialized " finds justification again. 

What the future has in store for us in the history of inorganic 
force and its results, we can not now foresee, but I call attention 
in this connection to the important part played by life in the dis- 
tribution of minerals. It has long been known that the carbon of 
the earth's crust was once in a living state, and it is admitted that 
the limestone once circulated in the fluids of animals. We have 
recently been compelled to believe that siliceous rocks are com- 
posed of the consolidated shells of minute plants, which they 
have elaborated from the water of the ocean. Silver and gold 
are segregated and deposited by seaweeds. The principal rock 
material, whose relation to life has not been ascertained, is alu- 
mina. How far the processes which now characterize dead mat- 
ter were once related to life is a problem for the future. 

IV. The Morals of Evolution. 

The doctrines of the struggle for existence and survival of the 

fit in human life, have a two-fold application. The relative pro- 



268 A Reviezv of the Modem Doctrine of Evolution. [April, 

portions in which these applications are made, will depend on the 
moral development of him who makes them. Moral density and 
intelluctual stupidity (often nearly allied) will see in these two laws 
only the struggle for material power, and the survival of the strong- 
est. They will hardly urge in these days, as they would infallibly 
have clone had they lived a few centuries ago, that the strongest 
means the hardest hitter, or the most successful assassin, but they 
will probably believe that this pre-eminent position belongs to the 
most wealthy. From a purely dynamical standpoint this position 
is correct, yet it might be a useful question for such advocates to 
consider why it is that physical oppression and assassination 
should be less successful avenues to power than they once were. 

There are two reasons why man does not grant the first place 
in his esteem to physical force. The first principles of morals are 
acquired in the struggle for existence. The idea of meum and 
tnum was speedily developed so soon as men associated together ; 
and the habit of justice has doubtless been formed by the insist- 
ence of every man on his own rights, and by the power of com- 
binations of men to control those who may from superior strength 
or other cause seek to violate the rights of property. Thus law 
originated, and from the earliest history of the race to the present 
day it has educated the barbarous and semi-barbarous to civiliza- 
tion. It is then easy to perceive that man gives the highest 
place in his affections to the most just ; but there is yet another 
reason why this should be the case. 

The reproductive instinct in the lower animals has developed 
into social affections, and these form a part of the character of 
the higher animals and, in an especial degree, of man. The 
sentiments of sympathy and benevolence are probably outgrowths 
of the same. While the rational faculties are concerned in the 
knozvledge of right, these sentiments are a source of the love of 
right. This disposition is trusted by men as leading to the practice 
of right, in cases where the power to enforce it is not immediately 
present. The struggle for existence then among men ranges all 
the way from a rivalry of physical force to a rivalry for the pos- 
session of human esteem and affection. The robber and assassin 
of the lowest human races are represented by the slanderer and 
defamer in the higher. The ultimate prosperity of the just, 
asserted and foretold by prophets and poets, is but a forecast of 
the doctrine of the survival of the fittest. The unjust are sooner 



1 880.] A Ret •lew of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution. 269 

or later eliminated by men from their society, either by death, 

But the organized moral qualities cannot normally transcend in 
power, as motives of human action, those which secure his physi- 
cal preservation. Lines of men in whom the sympathetic and 
generous qualities predominate over the self-preservative, must 
inevitably become extinct. Evolution can produce no higher 
development of the race (whatever may sometimes appear in indi- 
viduals), than an equivalency in these two classes of forces. 
Beyond this the organization of the social faculties of the brain 
must always be repressed in the race, so that we can only expect 
to attain an equilibrium between them and the more purely selfish 
ones, as the very highest result of unassisted evolution. In this 
position the judgment is suspended between the opposing classes 
of motives ; and it must ever remain doubtful in general as to 
whether resulting action 'will be just and right, or the reverse. 
I exclude from this question those generous acts which do not 
appear to the actor to conflict with self-interest. These may be 
termed sympathetic acts, and arc quite distinct from the altruistic. 1 
The sympathetic actions are seen at times in most animals. The 
altruistic acts, on the other hand, are those that express what is 
usually called " moral principle." Such acts may often coincide 
with the interest of the actor, but so long as they do not appear 
to him to do so, they are altruistic. It is part of the doctrine of 
evolution, that habits will ultimately disappear on the removal of 
their stimulating cause. The moral nature originated, and has 
been maintained, through the pressure of the fear of consequences. 
The removal of this pressure, through the acquisition of power, 
would then ultimately result in the diminution or loss of the moral 
nature, through disuse. The abuses of power are well known. 
This appears to be all that evolution can do for us in the produc- 
tion of the moral nature. So it would appear that no organized 
faculty of self-sufficient altruistic justice can be derived by the pro- 
cess of mental evolution. The result is rather a continued strug- 
gle between justice and injustice. It is, then, evident that any 
power which shall cause the permanent predominance o( the just 
over the selfish faculties must be derived from without. 

After we omit from customary religion, cosmogony, which 
belongs to science, and theogony, which belongs to the imagina- 
tion, we have left an art which has for its object the development 

1 On the Origin of the Will. Penn Monthly, 1877. 



270 


A Review of the Modem Doctrine 


of Evolution. [ 


April, 


and sust 


entation of good works < 


3r morals 




U' the 


teachers 


and professors of this i 


irt produ 


ce the results i 


n this 


directioi 


1 at which they aim, their 


• great uti 


lity must be conceded 


by all. 


Their method has the advantage o 


ver that of the 1 


aw, in 



being of the character of inducements supplied before action, 
instead of pains and penalties inflicted after action. They strive 
to originate good conduct, rather than to punish bad conduct. 
They are working on the side of the originative force in develop- 
ment, rather than the destructive ; the " origin of the fittest" 
rather than the " survival of the fittest:' Whether man possesses 
the spontaneous power called " free will " or not, the work of 
supplying inducements for good conduct is most useful to society. 
But religion, as generally understood, pre-supposes free will ; and 
the definition of the word responsibility implies its existence. 
The question as to the presence of such a faculty is an interesting 
one, and will now be briefly considered." 

The well-known doctrine of necessity leaves no place for free 
will. All acts are the consequences of motives, and are the out- 
come of a balancing of interests. The heaviest side of the 
account determines action. Our physical necessities supply the 
motives for most of our activities ; our pursuit of food and cloth- 
ing is of necessity, and no condition is free from it. Evolution 
supports and explains this doctrine, as can readily be perceived. 
It derives our instincts from an ancestry whose daily occupation 
has been their gratification. But it has been shown above that 
this development does not supply the motives of an independent 
morality. 1 

The direction of action under stimulus is determined by intel- 
ligence, which is, as has been above maintained, the product of 
experience. Intelligence is organized or classified knowledge, 
and directs the activities set on foot by the likes and dislikes, that 
is, the affections. When there is knowledge, there is no necessity 
■for spontaneous action or free will, since action is determined by 
the organization of the mind. Even if the mind is conscious of 
insufficient knowledge, an inducement to seek knowledge is 
supplied, and according to the result of investigation will be the 

But we are here brought to face the case where knowledge 



i88o.] The Tongue of the Honey Bee. 271 

questions of the practice of morals, and the nature of the future 
life. The evolution of mind consists of a continual advance from 
the "known into the unknown, and a transfer of the unknown 
to the known. So long as there is any inducement to progress 
of this kind, and nature responds to inquiry, development will 
go on. Although it is true that it is only among men, and but few 
men at that, that the pursuit of knowledge is an occupation ; 
most men add to their stock incidentally as they pursue other 
avocations. The knowledge of right and the inducements to its 
practice are learned in their every-day intercourse, so far as it can 
be acquired. But knowledge in these directions soon attains its 
limit, and accordingly, development dependent on knowledge 
must cease. If any further progress in practical morals is to be 
made, some new force must intervene at this point. 

Here is the opportunity for the appearance of will or spon- 
taneity ; here it is at least needed. I am willing to believe that it 
may appear at this point, and that so long as we have to face the 
unknown in moral progress, so long it will remain. As a force 
it must be equivalent of other forces, but as a form of con- 
sciousness it is a new element of mind. As represented in 
new molecular organization, it may always continue, even after 
much of the unknown may have been conquered, and a station- 
ary period may have ensued. Such an accession to character 
would be a fitting crown of evolution, and a justification of 
this labor of the ages. If a true factor in human development, 
it might be compared, in the creation of character, to the apical 
bud of a growing tree. As the part preeminently living, it leads 
the growth of the trunk and branches. They all follow of neces- 
sity the path it has marked out. Under its lead they are suc- 
cessively formed, become fixed, and finally decay. 

THE TONGUE OF THE HONEY BEE. 

Tf I E bee is,and has long been, of great importance to the commer- 
* cial world, and this, together with the fascination inseparable 
from its study, have led many of the ablest scientists to carefully 
investigate its structure and habits. Yet I know not if there ex- 
ists to-day an accurate description of a bee's tongue, and the 
method by which the insect procures its food. 

The literature of the subject abounds in confusion and inac- 



-7- 



The Tongue of the Honey Bee. 



[April, 



curacy. The most learned scientists, those usually the most care- 
ful and accurate, like Reaumur, Newport and Carpenter, give 
voice to palpable errors. Even the last edition of the Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica gives further life to these old erroneous views. 
Let us give brief attention to some of these descriptions. 

Hogg says the bee's tongue is cylindrical ; Kirby, Spence and 
Neighbour state that it is flat; Reaumur and Chambers that it is 
between the two. Reaumur, Newport, Kirby, Spence, Carpenter, 
Shuckard, Bevan and Hunter all state that the tongue is solid, and 
that the honey is sopped up, or taken through a tube, formed by 

If the close approximation of the 

t maxillae, labium, and labial pal- 

pi. Newport speaks of a hairy 
sheath along the under side 

I £k ° f the ba5al tvv °- thirds of the 

^\ Y^ || M //organ. Neighbour says there 

V\ \ \ I // /// is a gutter throughout the en- 

\V\ \'h | 1:1 .// / tire length of the tongue, 

m Y^ P mjiM/ P /f/ while Swammerdam . La " 

'II \|AW// / marck, Burmeister, Wildman 

MB *1 ] Wttf fi/' mx and Munn claim that the or- 

I ' ft\ I '" 1 J& gan is tubular, Newport and 




denied by Cuvier. Reaumur 
and Chambers. 

That bees lap the nectar is 
affirmed by Reaumur, New- 
port, Kirby and Spence, Sa- 
vigny, Carpenter, Bevan and 
Hunter; while Swammerdam, 
Wildman, Lamarck, Burmeis- 
ter, Munn and Neighbour 
claim that the bees take 



orgai 


i, and als 


In 


the Apri 



S sec if we may find the 
losely the structure of the 
; taking its fill of honey or 



i88o.] The Tongue of the Honey Bee. 273 

of Natural History, for 1878, Mr. V. T. Chambers, an able 
entomologist of Covington, Kentucky, published a very admir- 
able paper upon this subject. In the American Quarterly Mi- 
croscopical Journal for 1879, P- 2,s 7- tnc subject was again pre- 
sented in a beautifully illustrated article by Mr. J. D. Hyatt, 
President of the New York Microscopical Society. I learn that 
Wolff has published a fully illustrated memoir on the anatomy 
of the honey-bee which, I regret to say, I have not seen. 
From Messrs. Chambers and Hyatt's papers, and my own re- 
searches and observations, I am able to present the following 
facts : 

The mouth-parts of the honey-bee brought into requisition 
when the insect takes a liquid into its pharynx, are the maxillae 
and the labium. 

The maxillae or second jaws (see 111 x in Fig 1, A) are situated 
each side of the labium. They are hinged to the head by the 
strong cardos (see c e in Fig. A) which are chitinous rods. Ex- 
tending forward from the cardo is th< • more flattened stipes (see st, 
St in Fig. A) which is also mainly chitinous. From the stipes pro- 
jects the triangular, deeply grooved lacinia (sec /, / in Fig. I, A). 
This is more membranous, but it is strengthened by a ridge of 
chitine which extends to the apex. At the base the very rudimen- 
tary maxillary palpi (see m} % mp in Fig. I, A) are visible, while 
scattering hairs project from the inner margins. When the maxillae 
are brought close together a tube is formed, which is continued by 
aid of a colorless membrane to the opening into the pharynx. 
This opening is beneath the labium and between the mandibles. 
The colorless membrane is continuous with the epipharynx. The 
muscles which move the maxillae are attached mainly to the cardo 
and stipes. 

The labium or lower lip of the worker honey-bee is from 
twenty-three to twenty-seven hundredths of an inch long. It 
consists of a central portion, and two pairs of appendages, the 
paraglossae (see/,/ m Fig. 1, A) and the labial palpi (see k, k in 
Fig. I, A). The central portion is divided into a basal two-sevenths. 



dredths of an inch long. It is hinged to the sub-i 
in Fig. 1, A) which in turn is hinged to the maxillae 
ous rods (see b, b in Fig. 1, A). These rods perm 



274 The Tongue of the Honey Bee. [April, 

and to them are attached muscles, which in part affect the move- 
ment of the labium. The mentum is a flattened cylinder, the 
floor and sides of which are thick and opaque, because of the 
abundance of chitine contained in their structure. While lining 
this chitinous gutter and completing the tube is a thin colorless 
membrane, which is but the anterior prolongation of the pharynx. 
There also abundant muscles within the mentum which extend 
even for a short distance along the sides of the base of the tongue. 
These not only affect the motion of the whole labium, but also 
protrude and retract the ligula or tongue. 

The ligula or tongue (Fig. I, A and B, /) extends from the ante- 
rior extremity of the mentum. It consists of a sheath (Fig. B, s) 
which from the many rows of yellowish hairs appears annulated. 
When not distended, the sheath, as seen in cross-section (Fig. i, C), 
is kidney-shaped. It has a slit (Fig. I, C, h) along the under surface, 
from the base very near the end. In some specimens the slit seems 
to reach quite the end. Within the sheath is a small colored, 
triangular rod (Fig. I, C, R) darker than the sheath, which except 
for a slit (Fig. I, C, h) on its under surface, would form a tube Fig. 
I, C, R); in fact the sides of the rod along the slit can be brought 
in such close contact as virtually to form a tube. Fine hairs pro- 
ject from the walls either side the slit (Fig. i, C, //) into the tube, 
which doubtless aid in making the tube more perfect. Along the 
back of the rod is a conspicuous layer which Mr. Hyatt asserts is 
muscular. If this be so we can readily see how its action would 
spread the walls and open the slit. The rod projects beyond the 
sheath, as an imperfect funnel, the " button " of Reaumur (Fig. I, A. 
and B, /"). The wanting section of the funnel harmonizes with 
the slit in the rod. Near the end, the rod seems firmly attached 
to the sheath. Any attempt to draw the rod from this position is 
quite certain to rupture the sheath. The rod when extended pro- 
jects from sixteen to eighteen-hundredths of an inch beyond the 
mentum. At the base the rod is colorless, and its tube connects 
above with the membranous sack next to be described,' and 
through this with the tube of the mentum and with the pharynx. 

Attached to the edges of the sheath, next to the slit, and possi- 
bly, as Mr. Chambers thinks, entirely lining the latter, and also to 
the corresponding edges of the tubular rod is a thin membrane 
(Fig. I, C,s). Mr. Chambers thinks this passes over the slit in the 
rod, making the tube of the latter complete. I have reasons to 



i88o.] The Tongue of the Honey Bee. 275 

think he is mistaken, as will appear in the sequel. When not dis- 
tended this membrane lies in folds (Fig. i,C, s); but when distended 
it with the rod pushes out of the sheath, so as to form with the 
latter a large tubular sack (Fig. B S, s), with the tubular rod (Fig. 
C, R) along the surface opposite the sheath. At the base this 
sack has a chitinous support (Fig. A, Q q), and connects through 
the tube of the mentum with the pharynx, and receives the tube 
of the rod. It extends nearly if not quite to the end of the 
sheath, certainly as far as the slit in the latter extends, and is, an- 

The labial palpi (Fig. 1, A, k, k) like the maxillae, are deeply 
grooved, and when brought close together form a tube which also 
has a membranous connection with the mouth opening into the 

The paraglossae are short, leaf-like organs (Fig. I, A, /, /) with 
a hollow membranous base, which also connects with the tube of 
the mentum and the sack of the ligula. 

When not in use the ligula, with the labial palpi and maxillae, 
all double back under the head, and the tongue is so retracted 
that it extends no further than the labial palpi. This shortening 
of the ligula seems to be effected by drawing the more mem- 
branous and less hairy base into the mentum. 

How do bees take liquids into their stomachs ? This question, 
as we have seen, has received various answers. Some have 
thought that the nectar was drawn through a tube formed by the 
approximation of the ligula, the palpi and the maxillae. Others 
that suction was the force and the tongue the tube. Still others 
have believed that the nectar was lapped up by the bees. I hope 
to be able to show you that all are right. 

Look at the bee through a good lens (I have used Toll's one- 
half inch) while sipping honey containing grains of solid matter, 
and the fine particles will often be seen to ascend through the 
tube formed by bringing the maxillae together. We have already 
seen how this liquid passes to the mouth and through this into 
the pharynx. Or we can color some rather thin honey or syrup 
by aniline (I have found deep red to be the best), and while the 
bee is sipping this colored liquid, which it does as eagerly as 
though the poisonous aliline were not present, cut off its head, 
which, with i 






1 plainly shows the track along the channel* 



276 The Tongue of the Honey Bee. [April, 

and palpi, even to the mouth, which clearly reveals the path of 
the liquid. These conduits are much the larger approach to the 
pharynx ; thus we see why bees take honey so fast when they 
can get freely at a large quantity, and why a few days of good 
basswood harvest are so fruitful. 

Bees as. surely take honey through the triangular rod which is 
enclosed within the sheath. I have proved this in several ways- as 
follows : 

I have placed honey in fine glass tubes and behind fine wire 
gauze, so that the bees could just reach it with the funnel at the 
end of the rod. So long as they could reach it with the funnel 
so long would it disappear. I have held the bee in my hand, by 
grasping the wings, while observing it with a good lens. I would 
gradually withdraw it from the drop of honey, which it would sip 
so long as the drop was within reach of the funnel. I have in 
such cases seen the red axis when the bee was sipping colored 
syrup. Subsequent examination by dissection revealed the red 
liquid still in the tube of the rod, clearly showing its course in 
passing to the pharynx. If we place the tongue with a drop of 
water on a glass slide and cover with a thin glass, and then look 
at it through the compound microscope, with a magnifying power 
of eighty diameters, we can readily see the liquid pass back and 
forth in the tube as we press with a pencil on the thin glass cover. 
As Mr. Chambers states, this tube at the base of the funnel is 
only one five-hundredth of an inch in diameter. We now under- 
stand why bees are so long in loading their stomachs when 
gathering from small tubular flowers, as then this minute tube is 
the only avenue by which the bee secures the nectar. We can 
also well understand why they gather so much faster from some 
flowers than from others. In the one case they secure the liquid 
sweet through both the channels above described, in the other, 
when the honey is scarce or deep down in small tubular flowers, 
they can only use this microscopic tube. 

We also note the admirable construction of the tongue, which 
permits it to probe these tiny flowers, and also see the advantage 
of even a little additional length in this important and wonderful 



I also believe that bees lap up the honey. If we spread a thin 
layer of honey on a glass, and permit the bees to visit it, we 
shall see the bees wipe it: up with their ligulae. Fine drops dis- 



i88o.] The Tongue of the Honey Bee. 277 

appear even though the funnel does not touch them. From this 
observation, as well as the structure of the organ — if I am right 
in believing that the slit in the rod opens on the surface — we can 
but conclude that the slit in the rod, no less than the funnel, may 
be the door whereby liquids pass to the tube. If Mr. Hyatt is 
right in thinking that the dorsal band of the rod is muscular, we 
can readily see from its position and the form of the rod, how the 
slit might be opened. If the liquid is very thick the bees are 
seen frequently to retract the hgula and then extend it, as if to 
clear the organ by scraping it between the maxillae and palpi. 

While sipping honey the bee performs a kind of respiratory 
movement with the abdomen. This shows that the force of suc- 
tion comes partly, if not wholly from the stomach, which organ 
is situated in the abdominal cavity. The tongue is also retracted 
and extended rythmically while the bee is sipping. The tip 
passes alternately back and forth from its greatest distance from 
the mentum to the end of the palpi. This movement may be 
something analogous to swallowing. 

I am not certain as to the function of the membranous sack. 
I have found that if I killed a bee by compressing its thorax, 
very soon after it commenced to sip the colored liquid, that the 
latter was always in the stomach but not in the sack. If I waited 
longer I found the sack also partially filled. This leads me to 
conclude that it acts as a storehouse, enabling the bee to carry a 
load beyond the capacity of its stomach. It also appears glandu- 
lar, when distended, so possibly it secretes an animal juice or fer- 
ment which aids in changing cane sugar into glucose or grape 
sugar ; for we find upon analysis that pure cane sugar after pass- 
ing through the stomach of the bee has partially undergone this 
transformation. 

After the bees have sipped the colored liquid, I find invariably 
that the tip of the tongue— the small portion where the slit in the 
sheath seems obscure, and where the rod seems more firmly 
attached to the sheath, is highly colored, as though full of liquid. 
Possibly the sac does not extend into this portion, and the tube 
may be larger in this part. By a little pressure the liquid is 
made to pass out of this portion of the tube, either through the 
funnel or slit, perhaps both. 

I have measured hundreds of tongues, under the microscope, 
with the camera lucida, and have been much interested to observe 



278 The Tongue of the Honey Bee. [April, 

the wondrous uniformity in length where the bees were from the 
same colony or from the same apiary, especially if close breeding 
had been practiced. Tongue after tongue would show a variation 
of less than .025 of an inch. I have found the length of the 
American black bee's tongue to average about .24 of an inch in 
length, from the base of the mentum to the tip of the ligula. 
American-bred Italian bees I have found, when measured by the 
same scale, to have tongues .02 of an inch longer. Some bees, 
said to be Cyprians, but closely resembling our black bees, 
except that the down on the thorax was a little more yellow, I 
have found to possess tongues a little shorter than those of our 
American Italians, though the average is but very little less. I 
have examined bees' tongues from workers reared from two differ- 
ent imported Italian queens, and found that in both cases they 
exceeded in length those of our American-bred bees, though the 
difference is very slight. 

In 1878 I measured the tongues of some bees sent me for 
Cyprians. The bees were very yellow and beautiful. I found 
them to possess the longest tongues I have ever met, but there 
was very great variation. I had but few bees and sent for more, 
which never came. I had arranged the present season for bees 
of the various European races, and had been promised specimens, 
but greatly to my regret and disappointment, the bees have 
failed to come, so I have to make this but a partial report. 

That the added length is of practical importance I have proved 
as follows: Honey in a vessel covered with fine gauze was 
placed before Italians till they ceased to eat because the honey 
was beyond reach. The vessel was then placed before black bees, 
which 'failed to reach the fluid. The vessel was then filled and 
given first to the black bees, which worked tjjl the liquid was 
inaccessible, when it was placed before Italians. These would 
invariably commence to sip the honey. Again, a box one-half 
inch deep, without top or bottom, was covered with fine gauze 
having fifteen meshes to the inch. A glass was then placed in 
the box so inclined that while one end rested against the gauze 
the other was one-half inch from it. The glass was thinly spread 
with honey on the side next the gauze. This was placed in a 
hive of Italians, when the glass was cleaned of honey for a dis- 
tance of twenty- four meshes from the edge where the glass 
rested on the gauze. The black bees could only reach and only 



i88o.] The Tongue of the Honey Bee. 279 

cleaned for nineteen meshes. Many trials gave the same result. 
This then shows why Italians can gather, and often do collect 
from flowers which fail utterly to attract the black bees. The 
nectar is beyond their reach. 

It would seem from the above that American-bred bees have 
shorter tongues than those direct from Italy. It seems very 
probable that " natural selection," the very law which raised the 
Italians to their position of superiority, also gave to them their 
longer tongues. Shut up in their mountain home, a mere isolated 
basin, where competition must have been very excessive, nature 
took advantage of every favorable variation and developed those 
striking excellences peculiar to the Italian. During these ages 
there was no kindly bee.-master possessed of the intelligence suffi- 
cient to nurse the weaklings, nor any " Dollar Queen business " 
to stimulate indiscriminate breeding, and the weak died victims to 
starvation. And so we are indebted to the stern, inexorable law 
of nature for the incomparable breeding which wrought out such 
admirable results in far-famed Liguria. Unquestionably the 
crowded apiaries of Austria and Germany have heightened the 
" struggle for life," and had a similar tendency to develop supe- 
rior excellence in the European black bees. It is more than 
probable that the German bees of crowded Europe have longer 
tongues and are generally superior to the same in America, where 
they have long been favored with broad floral areas and compara- 
tive absence of competition. I should expect that this very law- 
might have developed varieties of the black race which are supe- 
rior to others of the same race. It is more than possible that 
" survival of the fittest " explains the origin of the superior varie- 
ties which are said to exist in various provinces of Europe. For 
the same reason we should surely expect superior excellence in 
the Cyprian bees. Crowded as they have been for long years or 
ages in their small island home, the principle of " survival of the 
fittest" must have been working powerfully to weed out the infe- 
rior and to preserve and make stronger the superior. And so the 
great poet has well said : " Sweet are the uses o( adversity." 

From the above considerations it seems obvious, that would we 
perpetuate the excellencies given us by the skillful breeding of 
nature, though we may not destroy ail the feeble, as nature has done, 
we must assuredly study and observe so closely, that we shall 
know of a surety which are our very superior queens, and be even 



io Recent Literature. [April, 

lore careful to breed from no other. Whether care or careless- 
sss will be most promoted by our present system I leave for you 
> say. But I do wish that we might have at least a few breeders 

ith earnest zeal to not only keep all the excellence we now 
ave, but to augment this excellence, as I am sure it may be 
Ligmented. 

But if our cheap queen system is to continue, then, surely, we 
lay well stimulate frequent importations from Italy and Cyprus, 
id thus hope to compensate in part for what will be lost by 
asty, careless and indiscriminate breeding. — American Bee Jonr- 



RECENT LITERATURE. 
Brehm's Animal Life. 1 — This volume treats of the fishes, and 
is smaller than the others of the series. Beginning with the Dip- 
noans, the larger part of the space is devoted to the bony fishes, 
closing with the Selachians, the Cyclostomata and Amphioxus. 
The style is highly popular, as few anatomical details are given, 
but the text is taken up with very general accounts of the natural 
history of the more interesting species, with popularized illustra- 
tions in wood and full-page copper plates. In the preliminary 
glance at the life of fishes in general, their structure and physiol- 
ogy, habitats, distribution, habits and mode of development are, 
as well as fisheries and fish culture, briefly discussed. The Dip- 
noans are too briefly disposed of, only the Protopterus or lung- 
fish of Africa being figured and described; nothing is said of the 
Australian lung-fish (Ceratodus), nor of the relations of the Dip- 
noans to their mesozoic ancestors. The opportunity of working 
up a fresh and attractive account of the most interesting group of 
fishes in existence is not taken, and this part is nearly twenty 
years behind the times. The bony fishes are finely illustrated, 
the drawings of the eel, lump-fish and goose-fish, for example, 
being particularly good. We should have liked to have learned 
more of the singular breeding habits of the sea-horse; as to the 
garpike the reader is left in ignorance of its breeding habits so 
well known in this country, and the ganoids are too briefly treat- 
ed ; Ammoccetes is still regarded as an adult fish, though well 
known to be simply a young lamprey. On the whole, however, 
the volume is interesting and attractive, and so rich in good illus- 
trations as to be of considerable value to the naturalist. 



1 88o.] Recent Literature. 281 

Gr.enacher's Researches on the Eyes of Arthropods. 1 — 
This is the most elaborate and detailed work on the eyes of in- 
sects and Crustacea which has yet appeared. For the first time 
we have very full information given us as to the nature of the 
simple eyes (ocelli or stemmata) of larval insects and of Arach- 
nida, and we are here taught that they are much more compli- 
cated than was before suspected ; so that they are not exactly a 
simple, elementary eye, as it were, a primitive form of eye, but, 
as the author claims, the simple and compound eyes stand in the 
relation of sisters, rather than of child and parent. 

A long chapter on the physiology of the compound eyes lends 
additional value to the anatomical portion. The author concludes 
that perception in the compound eye of Arthropods is effected 
in accordance with the theory first proposed by Muller, and that 
this applies to the compound eye of the horse-shoe crab (Limulus) 
although morphologically the eye of this animal is totally unlike 
that of any insect or crustacean. Grenadier does not describe 
the eyes of the myriopods, though he observes that the compound 
eyes of Cermatia are entirely unlike those of the spiders or insects, 
and that they seem to show some analogy to those of Limulus. 
The illustrations are abundant and simply exquisite, and worthy 



Dall's Meteorology of the Pacific Coast Pilot. 2 — This is 
the results of several years' examination by Mr. Dall into the 
meteorological features of Alaska, together with the data collect- 
ed from the publications of learned societies and from unpub- 
lished material in the archives of the U. S. Coast Survey, the 
Medical Department of the U. S. Army, and the U. S. Signal Ser- 
vice, as well as numerous contributions from private sources. 
The whole appears to be a most useful and accurate account of 
the climatic features of Alaska. While the attempt has been 
made to elucidate the general climate of this region, the local 
peculiarities relating especially to commerce, navigation and agri- 
culture have been made sufficiently prominent. To geographers 
and Arctic explorers this volume will especially commend itself, 
as well as to students of the geographical distribution of plants 
and animals. To the latter the charts will prove useful; that 
showing the distribution of plants and animals, and the following 
one (xxviin showing, with the summer sea-surface temperature, 
the limits of trees, are new and fresh contributions to our knowl- 
edge of the life of this and the neighboring subarctic regions. 



* <■ S. Co,>,> „„ t < Geodetic Sin-rev. C. P. Patterson, Superim 

Series Veto rig) Hy W. 

,' ■ _" AI ■' - Actin- A^Ntant V . S. Coast Survey. Washington, 1879. 4°, PP- 375- 



This volume will admirably supplement the series of memoirs in 
course of publication on the marine zoology of Alaska by Mr. 
Dall, who has made very extensive collections on the coast of 



Barrande's Brachiopods of Bohemia. 1 — This volume of ex- 
tracts from the fifth of the magnificent series of the Systeme Siln- 
ricn tin Centre dc la Boh'cmc, is of very general interest to palaeon- 
tological students, since it gives the results of the author's studies 
upon an interesting series of faunas, where the succession is quite 
complete ; and although the distinguished author is quite fully 
persuaded that his facts and inductions are opposed to the theory 
of descent, others who favor the theory find these profound works 
rich in facts and inferences which go to strengthen their own 
views ; so anything that comes from the palaeontological work- 
shop at Prague — and least of all are they mere chips — is always 
welcomed. 

It will be seen how useful to the general student of biology 
this book will prove when we enumerate the subjects here treated: 
I. Variations observed among the Silurian Brachiopods of Bo- 
ll. Vertical distribution of the genera and species of Brachio- 
pods in the Silurian basin of Bohemia. 

III. Specific connections established by the Brachiopods be- 
tween the Silurian faunae of Bohemia and the Palaeozoic faunae 
of foreign countries. 

Huxley on the Crayfish. 2 — Whether it is because we happen 
to be just now greatly interested in the crayfish and its belong- 
ings, or because this book is in itself very attractive, we confess 
ourselves very much pleased and interested in it. The method 
of teaching zoology now-a-days is to induce the student to learn 
all he can from the thorough, detailed study of one or several 
types, rather than to bewilder his brain with a ponderous classifi- 
cation of the entire animal kingdom and a large but thin mass 
of superficial pseudo-knowledge of it. He is now taught to be- 
come, ab initio, an original investigator, to discover new facts for 
himself, or at least to discover what are to him new facts, and 
thus enthusiasm and real interest in the subject are bred. Just 
now a class of college students are studying with us and drawing 
the structure of the lobster, and with most excellent results in the 
way of exciting their interest and curiosity; judging by the re- 
sults this seems to us to be the very best way of teaching natural 
history. This book, which is a monograph of the crayfish from 



l88o.] Recent Literature. 283 

every point of view, will prove a great aid in such teaching. The 
story is told in a straightforward, honest way, and so truthfully 
that there is little or no room for fault-finding. We may not be- 
lieve, with the author, that the eyes of the crayfish or any other 
Crustacean are homologous with the legs, but this does not im- 
pair our enjoyment of the story of the structure of the eye and 
how the crayfish sees, and how its mind, or what answers to a 
mind, operates. The illustrations are most excellent. 

Thomas' Noxious Insects of Illinois. 1 — Instead of trying to 
cover the whole or even the larger part of the field, the author 
has wisely confined himself to working up one and a very impor- 
tant group of injurious insects, the plant lice. The group is 
treated of systematically, the genera and species described at 
sufficient length for determination, and their habits described as 
fully as possible, with remarks on their insect enemies and the 
best remedies against their attacks. With this report in hand 
any one in Illinois or adjoining States, whose crops or fruit trees 
or flowers are afflicted by these troublesome pests, can ascertain 
their affinities and names, and the best means of getting rid of 
them. A great deal of useful information is scattered through 
the report, which, barring some defects in its typographical appear- 
ance, the common fault of State reports, is well worth}' of wide 
distribution and use by farmers and gardeners. A number of new 
species are described, 'and as this volume is the first attempt to 
treat monographically of this extensive family of insects, it is 
worthy of the attention of the entomologist as well as the layman. 
; Riley on the Cotton Worm. 2 — This third Bulletin of the U. 
S. Entomological Commission gives the results of Prof. Riley's 
researches on the cotton worm (A/eti.i argillaccii), which is so in- 
jurious to the cotton plant that the average annual loss is esti- 
mated at over $12,000,000. The author, after treating of the 
losses sustained from the attacks of this caterpillar, describes the 
egg and metamorphoses and habits of the insect in its different 
stages. Riley has discovered that, contrary to the usual impres- 
sion, the worm hatches in April, and that the third generation is 
the most abundant, this having usually been regarded as the first, 
there being seven annual generations' in the extreme Southern 
States. The relations of the soil, of the weather, to the develop- 
ment of the caterpillars are referred to : and the author states his 
belief that the moth hybernates in the southern portion of the 

1 Eighth Report of the State Entom-Uo n<t on the Xoxious and Beneficial /meets of 
■. • : ' ■ i ...-:-, .- It Enton»k«Mt 
Springfield, 1879. 8°. pp. 212. 

n * Department of the Intcrioi United St,! Knt '«' 

■ 



284 Recent Literature. . [April,' 

cotton belt, though most of the moths die off in the autumn. 
The insect parasites, twelve in number, which prey upon them 
are described, while a large part of the Bulletin is taken up with 
the various remedies employed, of which Paris green, London 
purple, these being preparations of arsenic, are strongly advocated, 
and a number of machines and contrivances for sprinkling and 
spraying dry and liquid poisons are figured and described. The 
work will be of great use to cotton planters; and to entomologists 
the entire subject and its skillful mode of treatment will render it 
of permanent value. 

Gilbert's Geology of the Henry Mountains. 1 — The teacher 
as well as student of general geology in this country who would 
be at all informed as to the broader features of American geology 
and palaeontology is compelled to resort to the magnificent scries 
of reports of our geological surveys of the Western Territories. 
These, almost without exception, have been ably prepared, and in 
most respects certainly worthy of the time and money bestowed 
upon the work. From them have been and will be largely de- 
rived the materials for our text books. The present monograph, 
though not bulky, is a finished and elaborate study of an interest- 
ing group of mountains forming one of the western outlines of 
one of the flexures of the Rocky Mountain range, and rising sud- 
denly from what has otherwise been a region of geological calm. 
This group of five elevations forms as many laccolitcs, as the au- 
thor terms them. It is usual, he says, for igneous rocks to as- 
cend to the surface of the earth and build up mountains or hills by 
successive eruptions. Such are volcanoes. Now, when the lava, 
instead of rising through all the beds of the earth's crust, stops 
at a lower horizon, and insinuates itself between two strata and 
opens for itself a chamber by lifting all the overlying strata, and 
here cools, forming a massive body of trap, a laccolite {laccos, 
cistern, and lithos, stone) is formed. This is the mode in which 
the Henry Mountains were formed, as well as numerous other 
isolated groups in the Plateau region. That many similar peaks, 
with the Elk mountains of Colorado, elaborately described by 
Messrs. Holmes and Peale, of Hayden's Survey of the Territories, 
were formed in an identical manner has been independently estab- 
lished by these geologists, as stated by our author. 

Gilbert also makes the generalization that there are two types of 
igneous rock. " One type of rock is acidic, including porphyritic 
trachyte and eruptive granite, and its occurrence is, without ex- 
ception, intrusive. The other type of -rock is basic, including 
basic trachyte and basalt, and its occurrence is almost uniformly 
extrusive." It appears that each group of laccolites is composed 

; 
G. K. Gilbert. Washington, 1877. (Receded Nov. 10, 1879.) 4 , PP- I( '°- 5 ^ 



i88o.] Recent Literature, 285 

of many individuals, just as volcanoes are dotted over with minia- 
ture volcanets, so to speak, as may be seen on the flanks of Mt. 
Shasta. For example, " in the Uinkaret mountains, Major Powell 
has distinguished no less than *one hundred and eighteen erup- 
tive cones, and in the Henry mountains I have enumerated 
thirty-six individual laccolites. In one locality basic lava has one 
hundred and eighteen times risen to the surface by channels more 
or less distinct, instead of opening chambers for itself below. In 
the other locality porphyritic trachyte has thirty-six times built 
laccolites instead of rising to the surface." In answer to the ques- 
tion, why in some cases igneous rocks form volcanoes and in 
others laccolites, it is stated that "when lavas forced upward from 
lower lying reservoirs reach the zone in which there is the least 
hydrostatic resistance to their accumulation, they cease to rise. 
If this zone is at the top of the earth's crust they build volcanoes; 
if it is beneath, they build laccolites. Light lavas are more apt to 
produce volcanoes ; heavy, laccolites. The porphyritic trachytes 
of the Plateau Province produced laccolites." The process of 
formation is thus summarized: "The station of the laccolite 
being decided, the first step in its formation is the intrusion along 
a parting of strata, of a thin sheet of lava, which spreads until it 
has an area adequate, on the principle of the hydrostatic press, to 
the deformation of the covering strata. The spreading sheet 
always extends itself in the direction of least resistance, and if the 
resistances are equal on all sides, takes a circular form. So soon 
as the lava can uparch the strata it does so, and the sheet be- 
comes a laccolite." It then grows in size until the lava clogs by 
congelation in its conduit and the inflow stops, the irruption 
being completed. During the eruption and after it has ended 
there is an interchange of temperatures. The original laccolite 
thus growing by successive additions until its cooled mass, heavier 
and tougher than the surrounding rocks, proves a sufficient 
obstacle to intrusion. " The next eruption then avoids it, opens 
a mxv conduit, and builds a new laccolite at its side. By suc- 
cessive shiftings of the conduit a group of laccolites is formed, 
just as by the shifting of vents eruptive cones are grouped." 
Now the strata above are bent instead of broken, but though 
" quasi-plastic, it is none the less solid, and can be cracked open 
if the gap is instantaneously filled, the cracking and filling being 
one event. This happens in the immediate walls of the laccolite, 
and they are injected by dikes and sheets of the lava." 

W e must here remark that the impression left on the mind 
after having read this book, is that the discovery of this type of 
mountain structure is entirely due to Mr. Gilbert, although a 
careful reading shows that he rer v ni ed the fact that the Henry 
mountains are not the only examples of what he terms the 
laccolite." Prof. Newberry, who examined the Sierra Abajo in 
^o,, was probably the first to recognize the peculiar structure, 



286 Recent Literature. [April, 

but his examinations were rather cursory. This mountain, with 
others farther to the east, were carefully studied by Mr. W. H. 
Holmes, of the Hayden Survey, in 1875 and 1876, and his illus- 
trations in the reports for those years show the same structure in 
the La Plata mountains, the Sierra Carrisso, and the Sierra El 
Late, in South-western Colorado and adjacent regions, with some 
points that do not appear in the Henry mountains, probably on 
account of the greater simplicity of the latter. Mr. Holmes' draw- 
ings appear to be nearer to nature, i. e., less schematic. Scattered 
through Hayden's reports from 1873 to 1876 are many descrip- 
tions of this type of structure, and the term P&rphyritic-Trachyic 
(p. 64 and 68) used by Mr. Gilbert to designate the group to 
which the rocks belong, was first used by Dr. A. C Peale, of 
Hayden's corps, in 1874 (see his report for 1874 in Hayden's An- 
nual Report), and afterwards he always used the term in designa- 
ting the rocks. 

Mr. Clarence King, in his report (Systematic Geology, 1878, 
p. 581), proposes the name Traehyt Uf /'i,, for the group, 
having recognized the resemblance of certain rocks occurring 
within the area of his explorations, to those of the Henry moun- 
tains. He also recognizes the peculiar petrographical position 
of the rocks, one extreme of which cannot lx: distinguished from 
granite, and the other of which is undoubtedly trachyte. This 
tact was also pointed out by Dr. Peale in 1874 and 1875 (see his 
reports to Dr. Hayden). The descriptions of the localities men- 
tioned in Dr. Hayden's Annual Reports were brought together 
in an article (On a peculiar type of Eruptive Mountains in Colo- 
rado) in Bulletin No. 3, Vol. m, of the U. S. Geological Survey 
of the Territories, published May 15, 1877. Mr. Gilbert's vol- 
ume is dated Washington, 1877, although it was not published 
until about four months ago. 

Batrachological Papers. — Prof. Peters, of Berlin, has recently 
published an important paper in the Berlin Monatsberichte, 1 on 
the CtcaliidiC. 1 le discovered two new generic forms in which the 
usual position of the orbit is covered over by the squamosal bone, 
thus enclosing the rudimental eye in the fundus of the tentacular 
canal. One of these, Gymnopis, is American ; the other, Hcrpclc, 
is African. Prof. Peters then discusses the systematic arrange- 
ment of the family, and shows that it embraces ten generic forms, 
seven of which are new. Among other characters he relies on 
the form of the tentacle, which may be valve-shaped, globular at 
the extremity, or acute. He finds that the generic name Rhina- 

trcma was proposed on an immature Ichthyophis. In another 

paper Prof. Peters 2 describes two new species of (Edipus, one 



1 Ueber die Eintheilun- cU-r (.';«::, u:n 

2 Monatsberichte Berliner Akademie, August, 1879. 



i88o.] Recent Literature. 287 

from New Grenada, the other from Hayti. If the latter locality 

is correct, it gives an entirely new distribution for the genus. 

It is now some time since M. Fernand Lataste of Paris, showed 
that the larvae of the Batrck hi 1 i inum with opisthoccelous verte- 
bra; have their branchial fissure median, while those with pro- 
ccelous vertebrae have it on the left side. In a more recent paper 1 
this author discusses the position of the genus DiscoghsstU in 
the system, and gives much new information respecting the habits, 
varieties and larvae of the D. pictus. He adopts the system pro- 
posed by Cope in 1864, in which Discoglossus is placed with 
Bombinator and Alytes in a special section of the Atirtra, apart 
from the ranoid and pelobatoid types. M. Lataste creates a num- 
ber of new names. The distinction in the articular character oi 
the vertebrae had not been used by Cope as the basis of a primary 
division on account of its uncertainty in some Cystigitat/udu, but 
M. Lataste adopts an opposite course. He also gives tribal names 
to the group with and without ribs, which, in our opinion, 

mend his rejection of the new names proposed by M. DeLisle. 

Osteological Contributions.— Prof. Allen, of Philadelphia, 
has recently made some interesting observations on the ethmoid 
and turbinate bones of the Chiroptera, which are noticed in the 
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge. 2 
Among other things he finds that in the Ptcropidtc, Nvctcridtc and 
some Phyllostoimdr, a horizontal plate extends "from the under 
free edge of the vertical plate " of the ethmoid " to the nasal sep- 
tum. The olfactory surface in such forms is thus withdrawn from 
the respiratory currents, since no direct outlet exists at the poste- 
rior nares." Prof. E. D. Cope has recently published in the 

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 3 a description . 
of the foramina which perforate the temporal and adjacent parts 
of the parietal bones of the Mammalia, He finds nine of these 
which are generally constant in position, but present great variety 
in their occurrence in the different orders, families and genera. 
Three of them are confined to the Mcnotrcmata and Marsupialia, 
while there are many of the higher types which do not possess 
any of them. The largest number is present in the equine Pcris- 
• o// ' 'a ami •;, Kuan , Prof. Cope's conclusions are stated 

as follows : 



(I. 


■ The 


sine 


»us foramin 


a Un- 


nish valuat 


and 1 
.on. 


nay. w 


ith 


proper limitati' 


ons, be use 




) The 


prin 


nitive cond 


it ion 


of the var: 


••!•:•■ 


irs to ' 




; been the \ 


;„,., 


ssionofa 


;ac 




Soci 


ete Linneenn 




iordeaux, xxx 



288 General Notes. [April, 

(3.) The Monotreme-Marsupial line have developed a number 
of foramina in their own special way. 

(4.) The Rodentia have chiefly developed those of the inferior 
part of the squamosal bone, if any. 

(5.) The Carnivora commenced with but few foramina, and 
have obliterated these on attaining their highest development. 

(6/> The history of the QuadntfHana is identical with that of 
the Carnivora. 

(7.) The Perissodactyla present very few foramina in the lowest 
forms, and did not increase them in the line of the Rliinocerida. 
In the line of the horses an increase in their number appeared 
early in geologic time, and is fully maintained in the existing 
species. . ' . 

(8.) In the Omnivorous division of the Artiodactyla time has 
obliterated all the sinous foramina. In the camels an increased 
number was apparent at the same geologic period as in the history 
of the horses (White River or Lowest Miocene), and has been 
maintained ever since ; while the existing Pecora present a larger 
number of the foramina than any of the class of the Mammalia. 



GENERAL NOTES. 

BOTANY. 

The Humble Bee a Dysteleologist among Alpine Flower 
Visitors. 1 — In the interesting article of which this is an abstract, 
Dr. Hermann Muller considers the disteleological actions of the 
alpine humble bee ( Bombus mastrucatus ) . 

As Haeckel has shown, structures which are useless or harmful 
to the possessor are at mice the most insurmountable obstacles to 
* teleology and the finest foundation for disteleology. Very im- 
portant among these are rudimentary organs ; but this field is 
much more comprehensive than Haeckel made it, or, indeed, 
could have made from his morphological standpoint, for rudi- 
mentary organs are always at first the morphological results of 
biological causes, and may always be traced to some change of 
habits in living beings. Their uselessness begins not with the 
commencement of atrophy, but with the change of habits which 
is the cause of this atrophy. 

The different living beings of any given place are so variedly 
and closely connected by their mutu il re! itions th it a change in 
the habits of one species is indicated not only by the consequent 
uselessness of its own organs but also by the accompanying, use- 
lessness of those of other species which were closely adapted to it 
1..,- fnrmf-r rondihons The numerous, v, 



i88o.] Botany. 289 

in the study of disteleology. The closeness of these relations 
Dr. M filler has shown in previous articles. 1 Any change in the 
one must react on the other and produce some effect. For ex- 
ample, no teleologist could desire a more perfect adaptation of 
two forms one to another than is afforded by the sucking mechan- 
ism of the humble-bee and the complicated lever-work for secur- 
ing pollination in the meadow-sage. But if it chance — and this 
is really the case in some places — that there are found with the 
ordinary form of this sage small-flowered varieties which are 
visited, on an average, later than the large-flowered , form, and 
therefore are fertilized by pollen taken from the latter, the beauti- 
ful lever-mechanism of the antln :i\s in the small flowers becomes 
useless at once, and passes from the province of teleology into that 
of disteleology ; it becomes a rudimentary organ, and as such is 
actually found in all degrees of atrophy. Or, again, if a species 
of humble bee belonging to the most frequent visitors of these 
flowers should find it too much trouble to set the anther-levers in 
motion, and should take to perforating the floral envelopes from 
the outside and through these stealing the nectar, it would not 
only cease to employ its tongue in a way fully corresponding to 
the degree of its development, but it would render the anther- 
mechanism of the flowers entirely useless in all of its visits. In- 
deed, were the not improbable case to occur, in which other spe- 
cies of bees, finding the nectar constantly gone from these flowers, 
should entirely lose their habit of visiting 'them, the flowers would 
never be fertilized, and the meadow-sage would die out in the 
regions where this occurred. The change in habits of the pirati- 
cal bee would thus have as a result the changing of the habits of 
all other humble bees ; and from the moment when this occurred 
the wonderful contrivances by which no insects but these bees can 
fertilize the flowers would become not only useless but absolute- 
ly destructive, and this, without the formation of rudimentary or- 
gans. Such a bee, obtaining nectar by robbing from flowers 
adapted to its visits for their fertilization sets at nought the theory 
of teleology, and merits in a high degree the name of a distele- 
ologist. 

Of this character is the Bombus wash ncatus of the Alps; which, 
moreover, does not content itself with breaking into and stealing 
nectarfrom flow ers v. Inch it cannot enter in the normal way,buthas 
become so addicted to the exercise of violence that it only enters 
a flower regularly when this is less trouble than perforating its 

The good deeds of this insect, and those by which it is con- 
nected with the theory of teleology arc lew in number, and confined 
almost exclusively to such flowers as those of the Composite, 
which are not especially adapted to bees, but are opBi to the 
visits of all insects. But while it visits these in the normal way — 
1 See the Naturalist for April, 1879, p. 2^7. 



290 General Notes. [April, 

because it would be more trouble to get at their nectar in any 
other — its more ravenous appetite and greater dependence upon 
plant-food are the only causes which render its visits more fre- 
quent than those of less-specialized insects, and its value to the 
plant greater; for visit for visit, they are as effective in fertilizing 
the flowers as it is. Such flowers as those of Thymus sapyllum, 
which are only slightly modified, are not as a ruleperforated ; nor 
are pendant flowers like those of Campanula rapunculoides. But 
of bee-flowers like those of Aconitum napellus very few are visited 
regularly before a systematic perforation of their corollas is 
begun. In a few other cases where this bee either leaves the 
nectar untouched or obtains it by force it collects pollen, and in 
so doing aids in the fertilization of the flowers. 

Were we only to count the flowers which this bee visits in the 
normal way, and those which it perforates, we might infer that its 
good and evil deeds stand pretty evenly balanced; nevertheless it 
would always remain a disteleologist because it seldom uses its 
own organs in a way corresponding to the completeness of their de- 
velopment, and, moreover, breaks ruthlessly through the most 
highly developed floral structures, so that to a certain extent 
both its own organs and those of the flower are rendered useless. 
But to fully appreciate its injuriousness we must note how great- 
ly it prefers those richly nectariferous flowers which it perforates 
to those with less nectar which it visits normally. So great is 
this preference that it is astonishing to see how few flowers of 
such species as Salvia pratensis remain unperforated. 

Bad in itself, thisTiabit of perforating flowers is rendered still 
worse for the plants by the habit which certain other insects have 
of obtaining nectar through openings already formed, though 
they would not form any for themselves. This limits still more 
the number of useful visitors of the flowers. Hence it is not im- 
probable that this bee may have been the cause of the extinction of 
many alpine plants ; and one can scarcely doubt that changes in 
flowers which tend to check or stop perforation by it have been 
taken up and developed by natural selection from the time when 
this unnatural action first began. An instance of partial protec- 
tion against this bee is afforded by RhinmitJuts alcitorolophus, 
where the inflated calyx and the firm, smooth arch of the corolla 
together protects the flowers from forcible removal of their 
nectar, and force the bee to aid in their fertilization or go without 
the sweets. In Tcdicularis vcrliallata the perforation of the floral 
envelopes is partial lyp3revented by the globular form of the calyx, 
the abrupt, rectangular bend of the corolla within, and its smooth, 
laterally compressed condition without the calyx. 

It is easily seen why rudimentary organs are not formed in 
flowers robbed of their nectar by our bee; for bee- and butterfly- 
flowers which are thus treated either receive enough visits from 
other species to ensure their fertilization and prevent the abortion 



i88o.] Botany. • 291 

of their organs, or their other visitors are crowded out to such an 
extent that the plant perishes at once, giving no opportunity for 
the formation of any rudiments. Nor can the sucking apparatus of 
the bee become rudimentary, for it is employed constantly in obtain- 
ing nectar even from those flowers which are broken into. Only 
in case the robber-bee formed the habit of biting off all nectar- 
containing parts, or of stealing honey already collected by other 
bees, could its tongue become abortive. What would occur in the 
the latter case is seen in the Brazilian Tri^ona limee, which has 
this habit. The disused tongue is here very small, while the 
mandibles, being more frequently used, arc unusually large and 
strong.— IV. Trelease. 

Botanical Notes. 1 — The Botanical Gazette, for December, fur- 
nishes articles by C. C. Pringle, on dimorpho-dichogamy in Jug- 
lans cinerea, and on the leaf propagation of Nasturtium luenstrc. 
To the January number Dr. Gray sends notes on Tennessee 
plants and records the occurrence of Littorella and Schizaea in 
Nova Scotia. Dr. George Engelman writes on Catalpa speciosa. 
In the February number are notes on Viola tricolor by Prof. T. C. 
Porter. To 'the Bulletin of the Torry Botanical Club, for De- 
cember, 1879, Mr. Pringle contributes notes on Northern New 
England plants, and . is noticed critically by 

Mr. B. D. Gilbert. The death of Dr. F. J. Bumstead, a student 

28th, is also announced -T! c Cul. nia //« / Iturist always 

the januarv number S. B. Parish contributes a notice of the Pent- 
stemons of Southern California In Trimen's Journal of Botany, 

fcntltcs ,/!■:,'. ! 1 S> Q-ula urucu- 

sis. Reference is made to an article- bv P. Sagot on the influence 
of the hygroscopic state o( the air on' vegetation. The death of 
Dr. H. Bauke, December 15, is announced, i le Mas well known 

by his work on Pvcnidia, fern prothallia, &c. The January 

number of the Ou ? crl\ 7, rnal of Mi oscopn t Science contains 
several botanical article, of special value. H. M. Ward discusses 
the embryo-sac and development of Gymnadtnia conopeca ; the 
pollen-bodies of Angiosperms are treated of by F. Elfving; the 
development of the conceptacle in the Fucaceas, by F. O. Bower. 
In his article on the Bacillus of leprosy, G. A. Hansen describes 
and figures Bacilli found in leprosy tubercles and pus, but does 
not go so far as Xeisser and Edlund in attributing this loathsome 

sionsthat I>r. 



292 General Notes. [April, 

number, the gross weight being considerably less. He found 
also that the leaves were obviously injured by the flesh food and 
that the power of the plants to resist the winter was diminished. 
He thinks the epithet "carnivorous" to be inappropriate. On the 
other hand, Von Heldrich, according to the Journal of the Royal 
Microscopical Society, has found a Pinguicula on the upper side 
of whose leaves are a large number of bodies of insects in an 
earlier or later stage of digestion by the glands plentifully sprin- 
kled over its surface. This is the first insectivorous plant yet 

recognized in Greece. By the will of the late Stephen C. Olney, 

of Providence, R. I., his herbarium of from 8000 to 10,000 spe- 
cies of plants, and his library of botanical works numbering 
some four hundred volumes, and an excellent microscope, with 
$10,000 for the increase of the library and herbarium, have been 
bequeathed to Brown University. The library contains many 
costly works. The herbarium comprises, besides a fine series of 
Carices, on which the donor bestowed much labor, many Western 
and South-western plants named by Gray, Cuban plants, Austin's, 
Sullivant and Lesquereux's mosses, and good series of algae and 
lichens. The author's botanical labors were recognized some 
years since in the establishment of the genus Olneya. The Col- 
lege also receives from him the sum of $25,000 for a professorship 
of natural history. 

ZOOLOGY. 1 

Twenty-six Days at Sea, in an open Boat, Cruising for 
Whales.— We left San Francisco on a small steam propeller 
known as the Rocket; length about thirty-five feet, eight fe 
beam, and about five and a-half tons register. 

The day we left being tine, we had a very pleasant trip as far 1 

cisco, but saw nothing of importance on the way, except now and 
then numerous albicore and the porpoises sporting in the s 
We anchored in Drake's bay for the night. Early on the folio 
ing morning we steamed up and took a cruise outside, and ir 
kw hours heard the familiar sound, " There she ' blows,'" a 
the captain, with spy-glass in hand, answering, " W 
with the answer, "Just on the lee bow, about half a 
Getting everything in order, we steered for him, ; 
several whales swimming very fast and going northwards, 
one approaches which proves to be a sulphur bottom whale 
baldius sulphurens Cope), seventy-five to eighty feet long, just 
under the bow of the boat, in fact almost too close for a shot. 
The captain fired one of the well-known Fletcher, Suits & Co. 
California whaling rockets, and patent bomb lance. This apparatus 
consists of a gun-metal cylinder filled with a peculiar composition 
made only by themselves, to which is attached, in front, a bomb 



i88o.] Zoology. t 

with a barbed point; inside the bomb (Fig. i) is an explo 




Lr 



charge and a chain tocy<xle i 
the shell on entering the \vl 
rear end of the rocket (as < 
whale line is spliced this ah 
released, so that when it is 
In some exnerim<-nt< ™-;th t\ 



General Notes. 



These are generally fired from the bow of the boat. Fig. 3 
gives a good idea of a man firing at a whale. Fig. 4 gives an 
enlarged view of the 
complete apparatus 
before being fired. The 
hinged flange is thrown 
up by the rocket pass- 
ing out, protecting the 
face from injury. At 

twenty to thirty fath- 
oms it is almost sure 
splode and kill 




the 



5 we being too close to 
I the whale, about ten 
| feet distant, the bomb 
« went through him, 
1 just abaft of the flukes, 
I and bursted on the 
I outside, leaving the 
f toggle on the outside 
13 of him ; we were now 
I fast, and the whale 



and all, for three or 
four hours, with from 
twenty to forty fathoms 



:thei 



i of ten 

though we were fre- 
quently backing under 
a full head of steam. 
This, if we were going 
ahead and nothing to 
hinder, would carry 
the propeller about 
ten miles an hour, thus 



sho 



the i 



strength of the whale, 
seldom attacked by the whalers on 



1 880.] -Zoology. 295 

account of its being so much swifter than any other whales 
known. We held on to him as long as we could, hoping he 
would soon give up, as he was going so fast and at such a dis- 
tance from us, we could not get another shot at him, and it being 
near sundown, and we over ten miles from land, we commenced 
to shorten up the line as much as possible intending soon, if he 
did not give up, to cut the line and let him go. While doing so 
the line parted, and we lost about ten fathoms and the rocket. 
Thus ended one of the fastest and most exciting rides I ever had 
behind one of the monsters of the deep. 

We now steamed towards Drake's bay, where we anchored for 
the night. 

On a subsequent day we went out and saw numerous sulphur 
bottoms, but all swimming fast and going northward. We could 
scarcely approach them, but finally firing a shot at one, we missed 
him. We did not get any more chances at them during the day, 
and at night returned to Drake's bay. — C. D. Voy. 

List of Californian Reptiles and Batrachia collected by 
Mr. Dunn and Mr. W.J. Fisher in 1876.— The following species 
were collected by Mr. Dunn in a district about seventy-five miles 
south-east of San Diego : 



The following were collected in Lower California 
south of Magdalena bay, by Mr. W. J. Fisher : 



altenuatits? La Pa. 



Dipsosaurus dorsalis Hallowell. 

Prof. E. D. Cope has kindly identified the rarer species, and 
has verified the identification of the others. 

The single example of Plethodon croceater is, I am told by Prof. 
Cope, the only one now known to be extant. 



296 General Notes. [April, 

Uta thalassina, a very rare species, is represented by two 
specir 



the subject are not accessible to me, I cannot be certain to which 
of the two described species the specimens belong. 

The Batrachoseps appears to be attenuates, and if so, proves 
that species to have a more southerly range than has been hitherto 
supposed. — IV. N. Lockington. 

The Gastrula of Vertebrates and the Gastr^a Theory. 
— The amount of attention now being given to embryology is 
very great, and of papers and memoirs upon this topic there is 
no end, while the subject is still apparently in its infancy. To 
Haeckel, who first showed that all animals above the Protozoans 
pass through a so-called morula and gastrula condition, much of 
this recent activity is due. However crude and open to criticism 
much of his work may have been, he has marked out a new line 
of investigation, and his gastrsea hypothesis has been, with all its 
necessary assumptions and crudities, most fruitful in results. His 
early generalization that most if not all many-celled animals pass 
through the condition of a two-layer sac with a primitive open- 
ing and digestive canal (his gastrula) has been sustained by Bal- 
four, Lankester, Kuppfer, Benecke, and others. The observations 
of the two last named authors on the salamanders, lizards and 
turtles have enabled them to extend the gastrsea theory into the 
great division of the Amniote Vertebrata, and, it is claimed, does 
much to explain the phylogenetic history of the allantois. A gas- 
trula state is now known to be common to Amphioxus, the lam- 
prey, sharks, ganoids, bony fishes, as well as to all higher verte- 
brates. Kuppfer and Benecke have discovered that in the em- 
bryo turtle the gastrula-cavity is continued into the intestine (or 
hind gut) and that therefore it forms the rudiment of the allantois. 

Zoological Notes.— A. D. Michael states in the Journal of 
the Royal Microscopical Society that after placing some Oribatid 
mites in one per cent, solution of osmic acid for several hours, 
and then putting them in fifty per cent, alcohol for several more 
hours, and finally in absolute alcohol for several additional hours, 
they came out, naturally to his surprise, " all alive and apparently 
not much the worse." M. Dareste states that the amnion is oc- 
casionally absent in the embryo chick, though the germs would 
probably not live to break the shell. In a paper on the loco- 
motion of land snails, Dr. Simroth discusses the action of the 
muscles of the foot and their relation to the nerves, and draws 
attention to the interesting relations between the circulatory sys- 
tem and the locomotor muscles. It seems that the foot of the 
slug can only contract so long as it is swollen out by blood, the 
sinus in the middle line of the foot forming a veritable corpus 



[ 8 So. ] Anthropology. 297 

cavcniosnm. Three species of Helix having been shown to be 

viviparous, a fourth [Helix stitJcriana, from the Leychelles) has 
been found by Vignier to bring forth its young alive. The so- 
called proboscis of Pterotrachea. a Heteropod mollusc, has been 
found to possess organs of taste, the gustatory papillae having, it 
is claimed by Todaro and Milone, the same structure as those of 

the Mammalia. Indications of the molting of the horny beak 

of a penguin (Eudyptes) were presented to the Zoological Society 

by Dr. Mulvany. It appears that the Phylloxera in France 

resisted the severe cold and deep snow of the past winter, the 
temperature in December having been below io° and 12 F. No 
remedies have yet proved successful in dealing with this dreadful 

ANTHROPOLOGY. • 
American Ethnology. — In the history of every science 
there are periods when the student may lay aside the apparatus 
of the investigator and bring together the results of varied 
researches into one general view. Such an opportunity offered 
itself, and was well utilized, when Mr. John D. Baldwin, profiting 
by the labors of Schoolcraft, Squier and Davis, Stephens, Cather- 
wood, the earlier Government surveys, and the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, as well as the older authorities, published, in 1871, his 

A personal familiarity with the very arena on which the history 
of the Mound-builders was enacted, and the accumulation of new 
materials, induced Dr. J. VV. Foster, in 1873 to publish his " Pre- 
historic Races in the United States." 

Since the explorations, upon which this work is based, were 
made, the Smithsonian Institution has continued to publish addi- 
tional facts every year; the Centennial Exhibition has added 
fresh enthusiasm to'archav>l<>gical research, the Government sur- 
veys have brought to light the old civilizations of the Colorado 
valley, Dr. Rau has published his " Archaeological Collection of 
the U. S. National Museum;' the Peabody Museum, the Daven- 
port Academy, and many other State institutions have sent forth 
the results of their special investigations, and finally, Mr. Ban- 
croft's " Native Races of the Pacific States," has brought together 
about all that is valuable in the pages of its predecessors. Taking 
advantage of these accumulations, Mr. fohn T. Short, of Colum- 
bus, Ohio, has just brought out, through Harper & Brothers, a 
new summary entitled, ''The North Americans of Antiquity: 
their Origin, Migrations, and the type of civilization considered." 

The work consists of eleven chapters, treating of the ancient 
inhabitants of the United States, antiquity of man on the West- 
ern continent, origin of the ancient Americans, especially the 
Mound-builders, the Pueblos and Cliff-dwellers, the Mayas, and 

1 Edited by Prof. Oris T. Mason, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. 



298 General Notes [April, 

the Nahuas, old world analogies with ancient American civiliza- 
tion, chronology, language, and finally, the possible methods of 
peopling America from the old world. 

Since the author laid aside his authorities to abide with the 
printer, several very important contributions have appeared which 
would have thrown light upon his discussions, and which he, no 
doubt, would have been the first to utilize; notable among these 
are, " Mabel's Sculptures of Santa Lucia," " Rau's Palenque 
Tablet," " Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico," the writings 
of Bandelier, Icazbalceta, Stephen Powers, A. S. Gatschet, Col. 
Mallery, and above all, the immense linguistic and ethnographic 
material now collecting at the Bureau of Ethnology in Washing- 
ton, under the direction of Major J. W. Powell. 

But investigation must cease somewhere, and the author has 
produced, from the material at hand, by far the best summary of 
ancient North America which has yet appeared. We have fol- 
lowed him with great trepidation from the beginning to the end 
of his perilous undertaking, along the dizzy heights, the narrow 
ledges, the yawning abysses and the tumultuous floods. He has, 
at times, been lost to our view, and again seemed falling into the 
devouring torrents. We could hear some of our brethren shout- 
ing, "Climb a little higher!" " Stoop a little lower!" " Lean to the 
right !" " Lean to the left !" " Come my way !" But on the 
whole, Prof. Short has made a successful trip, though, doubtless, 
feeling much as Maj. Powell's party did when they emerged from 
the canons in 1869, or like Dr. Grove, who closes his Greek dic- 
tionary with the ejaculation, " Glory to God." 

The opinions most strenuously advocated are: I. That the 
Mound-builders were not red Indians ; 2. That they were related 
to the Nahuas of Mexico ; 3. That man is not autochthonous in 
America, that the claims of excessive antiquity are not valid, in 
fine, that he has not been upon the continent over 3000 years ; 4- 
That the multitudinous theories of European and Asiatic migra- 
tions, of which a very complete list is given, while valuable as 
traditions, lack confirmation ; 5. That the ancient Americans were 
not a single race, as held by Morton ; 6. The very high degree of 
artistic and scientific knowledge possessed by the Mayas and 
Nahuas; 7. The value of Landa's Syllabaries in the future 
decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics ; 9. The great merit of the 
Maya-Quiche literary remains. " The poetry of the (Quiche cos- 
mogony must some day find expression in verse of Miltomc 
grandeur. The fall of Xibalba will, no doubt, afford the materials 



benign and saintly (Juctzalcoatl, or Cukulca 
among the great faiths ot mankind, and their ; 
the great teachers of morals, except Christ hit 
positive morality, must be granted a preceden 



i88o.] Geology and Paleontology. 299 

great teachers of Chinese and Hindoo antiquity ;" 10. " While 
the probability is preeminent that the ancient Americans are of 
old world origin, and that the Mayas and Nahuas reached this 
continent from opposite directions, it is certain that the civilization 
developed by each people is indigenous." 

Peruvian Antiquities. — Those who have read with pleasure 
Squier's " Peru," published by the Harpers in 1877, will, no doubt, 
be delighted to see the following title and table of contents of the 
most thorough work on Peruvian antiquities that has yet ap- 

Wiener, Charles. Perou et Bolivie. Recit de voyage suivi 
d'etudes archeologiques et ethnographiques et de notes sur 
l'ecriture et les langues des populations indiennes : Ouvrage con- 
tenant plus de 1 100 gravu res, 27 cartes et 18 plans. Paris, Li- 
brairie Hachette et Cie., 79 Boulevard Saint Germain, 1880. Droits 
de propriete et de traduction reserves. In 1875 M. Wiener was 
sent by the Minister of Public Instruction of France to Peru and 
Bolivia upon an archaeological and ethnographical mission to last 
two years. The observations of the author are classed into four 
groups: 1. Account of his travels; 2. Archaeological researches; 
3. Observations upon ethnography; 4. Linguistic studies. In 
giving an account of antiquities, M. Wiener observes that he does 
not take upon himself the office of the panegyrist nor that of the 
detractor, but confines himself to an accurate account of the wit- 
ness of these ancient civilizations, dividing them into three 
classes, architecture, sculpture and decoration (peinture). 
GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 

Note on the Androscoggin Glacier. — Traces of a local gla- 
cier along the valley of the Androscoggin, from the White 
mountains to West Bethel, Maine, were first discovered by Prof. 
A. S. Packard, Jr., and Prof. G. L. Vose, and described by them 
in the first and second volumes of the American Naturalist. 
The flow of this glacier was subsequent to that of the great ice- 
sheet. More recently Prof. C. H. Hitchcock has described the 
glacial drift of this region in the New Hampshire Geological 
Reports. He also found abundant traces of such a glacier. 

During June, 1879, while studying the modified drift of the 
Androscoggin valley, the writer incidentally noted the signs of the 
local glacier. The most unique morainal mass which I found in 
the valley has not, so far as I know, heretofore been described. 
It is on the south side of the river, just at the State line. The 
Androscoggin which has been for a mile or two running south- 
easterly, here abruptly bends to the north-east. Here also the 
State Line brook, a roaring stream eight or ten feet wide, comes 
in from the south. It drains a wide mountain basin which 

This slope shows a short terrace" near the steam; otherwise it is 



300 General Notes. [April, 

covered with ordinary glacial till, with the exception of a mass of 
loose morainal materials lying in the woods a short distance east 
of the brook. A number of white birches and poplars led me 
into the thicket under a suspicion of kames, and thus I stumbled 
upon this deposit. Its southern portion (it is separated into two 
parts by a depression) consists of a ridge from five to fifteen rods 
wide and rising from ten to thirty feet above the surrounding 
slopes of the hill. Here are some granite bowlders, closely 
resembling, if not identical with the outcrop of gneiss found a 
short distance west of here, near the river. The northern portion 
consists of a V-shaped mass with the apex south. It is com- 
posed of two ridges making the angle of 6o° with each other, 
which are connected on the north by an irregularly curved ridge, 
the whole enclosing a shallow funnel or " potash kettle," Of 
these the western ridge is prolonged somewhat to the north of 
the cross ridge in the form of a row of conical hillocks which 
reach down nearly to the upper terrace of the river valley. This 
western ridge is nearly in line with the southern ridge first de- 
scribed (perhaps they are really one ridge), and both bear nearly 
due magnetic north, thus crossing the State line obliquely. From 
the eastern ridge a short spur juts to the south. The northern 
end of these ridges must rise fifty or more feet above the under- 
lying hill. The ridges all slope outward in all directions, often 
as steeply as loose materials will lie. 

By aneroid the height of the ridges above the river varies from 
1 80 to 200 feet, and perhaps there were places a little higher than 
those measured. In places the materials show signs of water- 
wash, with a loose structure as of gravelly upper till. Along the 
south bank of the Androscoggin are many morainal masses left 
by the great glacier, but this is evidently a very different deposit. 
Considering the shape of the mass, its situation, its height, its 
materials and the steepness of its slopes, I" regard it as a moraine 
of the local glacier. It is one-third of a mile long and at one 
point is about one-eighth of a mile wide. 

The significance of this moraine becomes more evident after 
examining the north side of the river opposite. Here a high hill 
called Hark hill, stands far out into the valley in the angle be- 
tween the Androscoggin and a stream that comes in from the 
N. N. W. Hark hill is separated from the cliffs that form the 
northern walls of the Androscoggin valley toward the north-west 
by a low valley in which is found an extensive moraine. This 
deposit ends on the east and north-east in a steep bank or bluff 
from twenty to forty feet high, overlooking the interval of the 
lateral stream above mentioned. It contains many angular 
bowlders and sometimes an angular gravel, as if little water worn. 
This deposit is not valley drift, and for the most part does not 
appear to be ordinary till. I marked it as a lateral moraine of 
the valley glacier, though not very positively. Its height was 



i88o.] Geology and Palceontology . 301 

not measured, but cannot be much, if any, more than one hun- 
dred feet above the river. No grooves of the local glacier could 
be found on the north side of Hark hill, though they are beau- 
tifully developed everywhere on the south side of the hill next 
the river. 

On the south-east shoulder of Hark hill is found a morainal 
ridge. It bears N. 20 W., which was so near the direction of 
the flow of the continental glacier that I carefully examined the 
northern end of the deposit to see if it was a " tail " to a spur of 
the hill. It ends on the north at a height by aneroid of about 
one hundred and ninety feet above the river, terminating as a 
steep ridge of loose materials piled up to a height of ten or 
fifteen feet above the surrounding slopes of the hill. Its length 
is about one-fourth of a mile. It is evidently a moraine of the 
local glacier, and is described as such by Prof. Hitchcock. 

Here then at this bend of the river, at the State line, are two 
remarkable moraines lying transverse to the valley and directly 
opposite to each other. ' Each begins at a point about two hun- 
dred feet above the river and reaches down nearly or quite to the 
upper terrace of the valley drift. The larger moraine is on the 
south side of the river, and almost in a line with the glacier's 
axis for a mile or two up the valley. It appears as if the local 
glacier here paused in its recession for a time long enough to 
form a terminal moraine of considerable size. That part of the 
moraine which was within reach of the swollen river would natu- 
rally be washed away or buried out of sight during the period of 
the deposition of the valley drift. 

We have already referred to the lateral valley that comes from 
the N. N. W. past the north-east base of I [ark lull. In the lower 
part of this valley is an arrangement of the modified drift which 
deserves notice. Herejs a plain composed of steepish reticulated 
ridges of sand, gravel 'ami pebbles, enclosing a small pond and 
numerous funnels. The external appearance of these ridges is 
decidedly kame-like. Their tops are on nearly the same level as 
the upper terrace along the river, and in fact they appear like an 
extension of the drift of the Androscoggin valley running back 
into this lateral valley for a half mile. They then drop down 
suddenly into a wide, fevel interval which reaches entirely across 
the valley and shows no distinct signs of terraces, at least on the 
south side. This interval shows hardlv a pebble, nothing but a 
fine silt of great fertility. Time did not permit its exploration, 
but I was informed that it reaches two miles or more back from 
the river. For the first half mile from the river the lateral stream 
has eroded thirty or more feet into the valley drift and kame- 
hke ridges, but its Hood plain is not many rods wide. 'I hen 



302 General Notes. [April, 

make it very unlikely that this low flat was excavated in valley 
drift. At least, if so, the drift must have been of unusually fine 
materials. 

The currents which deposited these kame-like ridges may have 
swept toward the Androscoggin valley or away from it. The 
abruptness with which the ridges end on the north-west, favors 
the latter theory, though this could not be confirmed by lines of 
stratification, as no fresh exposures could be found. At Shel- 
burne the valley of the Androscoggin abruptly widens, and there 
has evidently been a lateral sweep of the currents, but I nowhere 
in the valley saw these oblique ridges actually turning back 
toward the west unless it be here at the State line. The appear- 
ances could be accounted for by supposing that during the depo- 
sition of the valley drift, in times of sudden flood, powerful cur- 
rents overflowed into the lateral valley until it was filled with 
water. Coarse materials would be carried for a limited distance 
and the finer would be deposited over that wide interval, which 
would for the time being be a lake. Or it may be that a part of 
these ridges were true kames, deposited in ice channels along the 
flanks of the valley glacier during its final melting. In any case 
it is difficult to see how the currents could have come from the 
north west without leaving some traces of gravel ridges in that 

Thus far no decisive evidence can be found that the Androscog- 
gin glacier flowed eastward of West Bethel. Many morainal 
ridges cross the valley but none of them appear to have been 
deposited by the local glacier, unless it be a line of hillocks and 
ridges just west of the valley of the Sunday river, below Bethel. 
A minute examination may show this deposit to be a moraine 
of the Androscoggin glacier. — George H. Stone. 

Marsh on Jurassic Dinosauria— In the Match, 1880, number 
of the American Journal of Science and Arts, Prof. Marsh gives 
an account of the Dinosaurian Stegosaurus ungulatus, of which he 
has come into possession of an unusually complete skeleton. He 
finds the genus to be possessed of very distinctive characters, 
which are as follows: 

" (1.) All the bones of the skeleton are solid ; (2.) The femur is 
without a third trochanter ; (3.) The crest on the outer condyle 
of the femur which in birds separates the heads of the tibia and 
fibula, is rudimentary or wanting; (4.) The tibia is firmly coossi- 
fied with the proximal tarsals; (5.) The fibula has the larger 
extremity below." Prof. Marsh abandons the order Stegosanria 
which he formerly proposed, and refers the genus to the Dino- 
sauria, to a special group. Stegosa inis d\ rtns was thirty feet 
long, and walked on its hind limbs ; its back was protected by 
bony scuta, and its food was probably vegetable. 

ArcH/EOPTEryx. — In 1863 M. Haberlein discovered in the litho- 
graphic stone of Solenhofen (Bavaria) a fossil bird, the Archaeop- 



i88o.] Geology and Pal&ontology. 303 

teryx, which was described by Owen, and a restoration of it is to 
be found in several of the recent manuals of Geology. More re- 
cently, M. Haberlein, Jr., has found in the same place another 
slab containing a complete and most perfect specimen of Archaeop- 
teryx. The examination of that specimen modified some pre- 
vious conclusions. The wings are spread out as for flight. Two 
small, pointed, conical teeth are implanted in the upper jaw. 
The hands cannot be compared with those of a bird or of a 
pterodactyl; they resemble those of a three-fingered lizard. The 
fingers are long, slender and provided with sharp claws. The wing- 
feathers (remiges) are attached all along the outer side of the arm 
and hand ; had they not been preserved, no one would have sus- 
pected, from the examination of the skeleton alone, that the ani- 
mal was winged. The remiges do not overlap each other; the 
proximal end of the shaft 'is covered with down; the outline of 
the wings is rounded like that of the hen. The head, neck, chest, 
ribs, tail, thoracic girdle, and front limbs of that fossil are charac- 
teristically reptilian ; the pelvis was also probably more reptilian 
than avian. On the contrary, the legs are bird-like; they re- 
semble most those of the falcon, inasmuch as they are covered 
with feathers. To every ca'udal vertebra was attached a pair of 
lateral quills. The remainder of the body was evidently naked 
and featherless, with perhaps the exception of the base of the 
neck, where there arc indications of a collar of feathers like that 
of the condor. 

Karl Vogt, to whom science is indebted for several of the fore- 
going tacts, says that it is superfluous to discuss the question as 
to whether the Arch.eopteryx is a bird or a reptile. It is neither; 
it is an intermediate type by itself, and confirms the views of 
Huxley, who classes together the birds and reptiles, under the 
name of Sauropsida, as one of the great divisions of vertebrates. 

The Manti Beds of Utah.— In a previous number (May, 1879) 
of this journal I showed that the palaeontological evidence is op- 
posed to the identification of the "Amyzon " beds of Nevada and 
Colorado with the Green River formation, and that the former are 
probably of later origin. There is, however, a series of calcareous 
and silico-calcareous beds in Central Utah, in Sevier and San 
Pete counties, which contain the remains of different species of 
vertebrates from those which have been derived from either the 
Green River or Amyzon beds. These are CrocoJilus, sp. f Clastes 

under the name of P. h'sticlinaria Cope.' There is nothing to de- 
termine to which of the Kocenes this formation should be referred, 
but it is tolerably certain that it is to be distinguished from the 
Amy/on bed,, in it. pet... Tiph.r ■ Inr.icU-.s ,t ,s most like the 



3<D4 General Notes. [April, 

Green River beds, although they are abundant in the formations 
deposited before and after that period. Until its proper position 
can be ascertained, I propose that the formation be called the 
Manti beds.— E. D. Cope. 

The Skull of Kmff.doclf.s — This genus, originally described 1 
from vertebra?, proves to be allied to Diadectes, and to be one of 
the most remarkable forms of the Permian fauna. With that 
genus it forms a family, the Diadcctidic. The skull of E. molmis' 1 
displays the following characters: 

The relations of the quadrate and zygomatic arches are as in 
the TheromorpUa generally. The pterygoids extend to the quad- 
rates, and the vomer bears teeth. The brain-case extends to be- 
tween the orbits, and its lateral walls are uninterrupted by fissures 
from this point to near the origin of the os quadratum. There is 
an enormous frontoparietal foramen. The mode of connection 
with the atlas is peculiar. There is a facet on each side of the 
foramen ma ^ num. which then expands largely below them. The 
bone which bounds it inferiorly, presents on its posterior edge a 
median concavity. On each side of this, is a transverse cotylus, 
much like those of an atlas which are applied to the occipital 
condyles of the Mammalia. They occupy precisely the position 
of the Mammalian condyles. The median point of their upper 
border, which forms the floor of the foramen magnum, is pro- 
duced in the position occupied by the median occipital condyle of 
a reptile. From its position between the cotyli, the section of 
this process is triangular. The element in which the cotyli are 
excavated has the form of the mammalian basioccipital, and of 
the reptilian sphenoid. It is not the batrachian parasphenoid. 
Its extreme external border on each side where it joins a crest 
descending from the exoccipital, is excavated by a circular fossa 
which looks outwards. 

The character of this articulation is so distinct from anything 
yet known among vertebrated animals, that I feel justified in pro- 
posing a new division of the Theromorpha to include the Dia- 
de.tidw, to be called the Cotylosautia. 

It will be remembered that in Diadectes the maxillary teeth are 

pedocles there is no distinct canine, but the incisors are distin- 



GEOGRAPHY AND '. 
)R of GREENLAND. — The Danish Government hav- 
istituted an examination by a scientific commission 
• of Greenland, has now published the first part of 



i88o.J Geography and Travels. 305 

a report giving the results of these researches. A recent num- 
ber of the Nature (February 12, 1880) gives a resume of the work, 
from which we take the following : 

"The work contains four memoirs of great interest: an ac- 
count of the expedition upon the inland ice, made by Lieut Jan- 
sen in 1878; a record of the astronomical and meteorological 
observations made during this journey ; notes on the geology of 
the west coast of Greenland, by M. Kornerup; and remarks upon 
the plants collected by the last named explorer, by M. Lange. 

"Starting from the neighborhood of Frederikshaab, in South 
Greenland, Lieut. Jansen traversed a distance of forty-six miles 
over the continental ice. Here he found, as did Dalager, who 
made a similar attempt from the same point in 175 1 , that a num- 
ber of islands of rock (Nunatakker) rise above the general level 
of the great sea of ice. and upon these rocky islets no less than 
fifty-four species of plants were collected." 

Of the character and movements of this great sheet of ice we 
learn that : 

" I. At a distance of 75 to 76 kilometres from the shore, the 
continental ice attains a height of 1570 metres (5 115 feet), and 
must be of considerable thickness, since its inclination to the east 
from the Isblink of Frederikshaab averages only 49'. 

"2. On that part of the continental ice which has been ex- 
plored, even at a great distance from the shore, are found many 

of the ice. in some cases actuullv bringing about a reversal of 
the direction. 

" 3. The surfaces of dislocation" resulting from the movement 
of the ice are almost vertical in the midst of the continental ice, 
but they incline at the edge and near the ' Nunatakker,' where 
the slope of the ground is great, and the upper parts of the ice. 
in consequence, move more rapidly. 

" 4- The crevasses are partly perpendicular, partly parallel to 
the direction of the movements, following the nature of the in- 
equalities of the rocky bed, and in places where the ice takes a 
lan-like disposition, both radial and tangential cr vasses are ob- 
served 

"5- Around the ' Nunatakker' and the rocks near the shore 



rounded masses of stone of no great magnitude, which in their 

The exposed rocks along the coast and in the islets which rise 
above the great ice-sheet are found to be mostly composed of 
gneiss, with some mica, talc and hornblende-schists, and occa- 
sional patches of granite. 

New proofs are furnished of the gradual elevation in past periods 
of the west coast. " Five sets of raised beaches are described oc- 
curring at heights of 28, 57, 94, 192 and 326 feet above the sea- 
level respectively. On the other hand there is clear evidence 
that the land is, at the present time, slowly subsiding, the extent 
of this movement being shown to have been at Lichtenfels from 
six to eight feet since the year 1 789." 

Finsch's Expedition to the North Pacific. — Dr. Otto Finsch, 
a naturalist of wide reputation, having recently completed an 
account of his last journey through Western Siberia, has now 
undertaken to visit the less known islands of the Northern 
Pacific. He reached Honolulu in July last. He sends home an 
interesting account of the effect of the introduction of new spe- 
cies of plants and birds upon the native species. Large numbers 
of mainas, a kind of starling ( Acridotheres tristis) have been 
imported from China, and by driving away the pigeons and fowls, 
and destroying the n^sts and eggs of the domestic birds, have 
become a great nuisance to the inhabitants. The mainas are very 
active and vociferous, and when gathering by hundreds at their 
roosting places, the noise is indescribable. The European house- 
sparrow has also reached the Sandwich islands, and are only 
second in numbers to the mainas. Another introduced species is 
the turtle-dove, brought also from China. To find the native 
birds it was necessary for Dr. Finsch to travel into the interior. 
.Even here they were scarce, and he complains that both the 
native forests and birds are rapidly being destroyed. On August 
2 1 st, Dr. Finsch arrived at the Marshall islands, landing on 
" Jaluit," or Bonham island. This island being much vis.ted by 
the natives of the other neighboring and little known islands, 
afforded him excellent opportunities for his ethnographic studies. 

Geographical News. — A valuable paper, " Observations on the 
Physical Geography and Geology of Madagascar," accompanied 
by a physical sketch map, by James Sibree, Jr., was given in 
Nature for August 14, 1879. It contains much new and valuable 
information about this great island which is the third in size in 
the world, and nearly four times larger than England and Wales. 

tific work, ,f Das Leben der Hauskatze und ihrer Verwandten," 
where the following extraordinary statementoccurs: " Dieschwanz- 
lose Katze von der Insel Man im stillcn Ocean wenn nicht das 
Kap Man aitf Borneo darunter zu verstehen," etc., thus first placing 



i88o.] Geography and Travels. 307 

and then doubting its exis- 
cape of the same name in 
de by the Russian 
authorities in the ports of the Baltic, have undoubtedly proved 
that the level of the sea at Cronstadt is, by nearly two feet, higher 
than at Reval, and that the height decreases regularly from north 
to south ; this conclusion being fully supported by Prussian meas- 
urements at Memel and at Kiel. The Revue de Geographic has 

recently published some statistics of the census of Japan. Only 
five cities have over 100,000 population, viz: Tokio 595,905, 
Ohosaka 271,292, Kioto 238,603, Nagava 125,195 and Kanazava 
109,850. Yokohama has only 64,602 inhabitants, Nagasaki 
29,660 and Hakodate 28,800. In a communication to the Lon- 
don Academy (January 24, 1880) upon the archaeology of South- 
ern Italy, M. Lenormant well says, that " geographers have not 
hitherto paid sufficient attention to the general fact of the dis- 
placement of the centers of population throughout this region at 
the beginning of the middle ages. The Greek cities were all 
placed on the sea shore, or at a very short distance from it, in 
positions favorable to traffic by sea, but ill adapted for purposes 
of defence. During the centuries when Saracen corsairs were 
masters of Sicily, and periodically ravaged the coasts of Southern 
Italy, these positions became untenable, exposed as they were to 
devastation of every kind. The inhabitants abandoned them and 
withdrew some five or six miles from the sea, leaving the coast 
absolutely deserted." " Now, since security has returned to the 
coast, thanks to the suppression of piracy in Barbary, which con- 
tinued to desolate these regions until the taking of Algiers by the 
French, a precisely opposite movement is in progress. The first 
step was to plant the sea-board and cultivate it afresh without 
leaving the inland districts. Next, within the last few years, the rail- 
way has been constructed which skirts the Ionian sea. Now the • 
inhabitants are gradually descending from the towns built in the 
middle ages on the heights which, twenty years hence, with the 
exception of Catanzaro and Squillace, will be in turn almost 

deserted." The results of a recent scientific exploration of 

Sumatra are to be given to the world in a magnificent work 
embracing four volumes. The geography of the country will be 
contained in one of these which will also include the meteorology 
and geology, while the other books will be devoted to the ethnol- 
ogy, natural history and languages of Sumatra and a narrative of 
the journey. The Dutch edition will first appear, but it will 
doubtless be translated into one at least of the more widely 
known languages. The French Geographical Society are con- 
sidering the practicability of adopting some uniform system 
of spelling in their publications, thus quickly imitating the 
similar resolution of the Royal Geographical Society. — — 
The New York State Survey has ascertained that in a dis- 



308 General Notes. [April, 

trict covering about 2000 square miles, in one of the most popu- 
lous parts of the State, and containing two important cities and 
nearly two hundred villages and hamlets, every one of these towns 
or villages is misplaced from one to two miles on all existing 
maps. The Director, Mr. James T. Gardner, remarks : " Colo- 
rado was not a greater surprise to me than has been the structure 
of my native State. In the study of the origin of some of the 
most remarkable features lie untrodden tracts of knowledge which 
are yet to awaken deep interest. The configuration, of a part of 
Central New York is as unique and as unknown to science as that 

of any part of the Rocky mountains." " Studien uber das 

Klima der Mittelmecrlander." by Theobald Fischer, published as 
a supplement to retenuann's Mitd'cUau^eii, is an exhaustive mono- 
graph on the climate of the shores of the Mediterranean. An 
interesting account of the famous winds, the Maestral, the Bora 
and the Sirocco, is given with many tables and charts illustrating 
the records of temperature and rainfall. He also discusses the 
evidence for change of climate, within historic times, afforded by 
the fauna and flora. When the African elephant was tamed by 
the Carthagenians, the camel was unknown in North Africa, 
whereas now the camel is indispensable on the desert and the 
elephant and rhinoceros have both disappeared from the region. 
There is no evidence of such a change in the climate of the coun- 
tries north of the Mediterranean as would prevent their recovering 
the position they held in ancient times. The rainfall, though, owing 
to the destruction of the forests, it is differently distributed, is the 
same in amount and sufficient for agricultural needs. In the 
countries, however, lying south of lat. 34 N. greater changes have 
taken place, the rainfall being decidedly less in amount than 
formerly. Vast tracts have become uninhabitable, the desert is 
ever encroaching upon the steppe, the springs are drying up in 
.the oases, and the larger mammals are abandoning the region. 
Only a local influence could be exerted by the proposed inland 
sea in Algeria, but the planting of forests might produce greater 

results. Mr. Alexander Forrest, brother of the well-known 

explorer, Mr. John Forrest, has recently made a successful jour- 
ney in north-western Australia, during which he explored the 
country lying between the De Grey and Victoria rivers. Starting 
February 15, 1879, fr° m tne former river and proceeding north- 
wards to King's Sound, the party then followed up the Fitzroy 

for about ioo miles. Leaving the Fitzroy at \J° 42' S. lat. and 

i 4 miles, ascending a table land 2000 feet high, but were obliged 
to return to the river, owing to the ruggedness of the country. 
They then, on July 10th, started for the overland telegraph line. 
marching in an E. N. E. direction, and reached the Victoria river 
near its junction with the Wickham, after a march of 340 miles. 



1 880.] Microscopy. 309 

During this part of their journey they discovered a vast extent of 
fertile country, abounding in grass, and intersected by numerous 
large rivers, all running north and north-west. Great numbers of 
natives were seen, and for the most part they were fine, big men, 
but they had evidently never seen Europeans before. Leaving 
the Victoria, they came to an almost waterless country, and after 
terrible sufferings finally reached the Katherinc telegraph station. 
They arrived at Port Darwin on October 6, 1879. 1 

MICROSCOPY.^ 

Agency for Exchanging Objects.— A Microscope Exchange 
Bureau has been opened by Herman Poole, No. 23 W. Swan 
street, Buffalo, N. Y. Slides are to be sent to the exchange in 
quantities of not less than six, and accompanied with a list of de- 
siderata. One of each six will be retained by the agency, and 
the rest will be exchanged as requested, so far as may be possible. 

Exchanges of Apparatus. — Several subscribers desire to make 
exchanges of apparatus. A Crouch student's monocular stand, 
and Schrauer binocular, and several choice lenses are offered, 
either for a Beck or Crouch binocular, or a Powell & Lealand 
large monocular, or for lenses of other powers, or for cash. Par- 
ticulars can be obtained from the editor of the Department of Mi- 
croscopy of the Naturalist. 

American Society of Microscoimsts. — The executive commit- 
tee of this Society have decided to accept the invitation received 
from Detroit, and the meeting next August will therefore be held 
in that city. The precise date is not determined at the time of 
this writing. It is certain that the citizens of Detroit will give a 
generous welcome to the Society; and a large and important 
meeting is expected. Correspondence in regard to papers to be 
offered, or other scientific business of the meeting, should be ad- 
dressed to the president-elect, Prof. H. L. Smith, of Geneva. N. V. 

Observations on the Construction of the Huyghenian 
Eye-piece as used in Microscopes. — The difference in the con- 
ditions under which the Huygenian eye-piece is used in the micro- 
scope, as compared with the telescope, for which it was first tie- 
vised, and the adaptation of the eye-piece to those conditions, 
has received but little attention from microscopists, and there arc 
discrepancies in the few statements published in regard to the 
subject. The following examination of some of the oculars now 
in use on microscopes was undertaken to determine whether their 
construction conformed to any general principles. The examina- 
tion was made by means of a heliostat and focometer, by which 
the dismounted lenses could be arranged in any position with 
reference to each other. The lenses being arranged in the foco- 



1879, p- 436. 



3 1 o General Notes . [April , 

meter, light maybe sent through them from an aperture of known 
diameter, and a piece of card or ground glass placed between the 
lenses at different points to indicate the course of the rays. For 
measurements, one of J. Moller's photographed micrometers, in- 
serted as an object, is most convenient, the dense black blocks 
admitting of accurate reading, and the millimeter being a more 
convenient unit than the line. The magnifying power is ascer- 
tained according to the ordinary formula: Divide the product of 
the focal lengths by their sum diminished by the interval between 
them ; e. g., for the first in the table 30x60=1800, which, divided 
by 30+60—58=48, the result being slightly too large. 





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By inspection of the table it will be seen that in half the oculars 
examined the ratio of focal length of eye lens to field lens is about 
one-half, in only one is it one-third, and in one of older construc- 
tion they approach so near as seven-ninths. The general prin- 
ciple in regard to the interval separating the lenses is that it 
shall be less than the solar focus of the field lens though in the 
deeper oculars, and in the orthoscopic, this limit is approached 

bination with the objective the ocular receives diverging rays, and 
hence the actual focus of the field lens for such rays is beyond 
the eye lens. In the shallow oculars it will be seen that only the 
central portion of the eye lens is used.— W. H. Seaman (abstract) 
in Nat. Mic. Congress. 



i88o.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 3 r 1 

SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 

— In a recent letter to Dr. Hayden, M. de Lapparent, President 
of the Societe Geologique de France, writes that the Geological 
Society of France has resolved to celebrate the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of its foundation. This should properly occur on the ] 5th 
of March, but as the annual meeting takes place April 1st, the 
Society has decided that the two meetings shall take place at the 
same time. A report will be read of the part which the Society 
has taken in the geological progress of the last fifty years. After 
the meeting a banquet will be given by the French members of 
the Society to the foreign geologists who have been so good as 
to respond in person to the invitation to be present. M. de Lap- 
parent speaks of the pleasant relations established with foreign 
geologists by the meeting of 1878, and hopes that these relations 
will be further increased in 1880, and that much may be done to 
render the meeting at Bologna, in 1881, still more interesting and 
important. 

— The dispute between the Directors of the Park Commissi on- 
ers and the Permanent Exhibition Company of Philadelphia 
having been settled to the satisfaction of both parties, the latter 
will at once proceed to carry out its plan as a combination of 
museums. The close of last year saw a balance of #16,000 in its 
treasury, and it is believed that next year a considerable increase 
in the fund available for scientific purposes, will be made. 

— Mons. A. Robin (Preparatcur a la Faculte des Sciences), Rue 
d'Ulm, 38, Paris, France, is now preparing a general work upon 
the anatomy of the Chiroptera, and wishes to obtain, either by 
exchange, or otherwise, American material in this order of mam- 

— According to the Academy, C Kegan Paul & Co., London, 
have published a memoir of the late Dr. Phillip P. Carpenter, 
well known as an able naturalist as well as philanthropist and 
sanitary reformer. 

— The Academy of Science at Turin has awarded a prize, 
amounting in value to about .£480, to Mr. Charles Darwin for his 
discoveries in the physiology of plants. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES 

New York Academy of Sciences, February 16.— D 
Stevens remarked on the geology at the head of the T 
branch of the Blue river, Colorado, and Mr. W. E. 

exhibited and described two new meteorites from the St 
States. 

March 1.— Prof. E. 

and fch< 



312 Selected Articles in Scientific Serials. [April, 1880. 

Boston Society of Natural History. February 18.— Mr. E. 
R. Benton spoke on the Brighton " amygdaloid," and Dr. Wm. 
M. Davis on the stratified amygdales in the Brighton amygdaloid, 
while Prof. N. S. Shaler remarked on the origin of the various 
classes of lavas. 

March 3. — Prof. G. H. Stone read a paper on the kames of 
Maine. 

Middlesex Scientific Field Club, Maiden, Mass, January 7. 
— Prof. E. A. Dolbeare, of College Hill, Mass., read a paper on 
radiant energy and its effects. Radiant energy, with Prof. Dol- 
beare, is synonymous with the terms heat, light, etc. 

February 4. — Herbert A. Young, of Revere, Mass., read a 
paper on insectivorous plants, illustrated by diagrams. 

California Academy of Sciences, Jan. 11, 1880.— President 
Davidson in the chair. Mr. B. B. Redding read a paper on "The 
Buried Treasures of our Remote Ancestors." Prof. Davidson 
made a verbal communication announcing the results of the Coast 
Survey Expedition for the observation of the late Solar Eclipse. 

Feb. 2.— President Davidson in the chair. Mr. Stillman read 
the chemical analysis of a secretion of the Parrya mexicana, the 
greasevvood or creosote plant, caused by the puncture of an in- 
sect ; also analysis of the oil of the California laurel or bay 
tree. J. P. Moore announced that a catalogue of the Fungi of 
California was about to be published by Dr. Harkness under the 
auspices of the Academy. Dr. Behr read a paper on the gradual 
change of the Flora of the San Francisco peninsula, and on the 
supplanting of the native growths of all countries by those of 
Europe and Africa, especially the former. 

March 1.— Prof. David S- Jordan gave an account of the 
labors of the Fish Commission on the Pacific coast. Prof. Still- 
man read an article on the gum and coloring matter found on 
Acacia greggi and Lama mexicana. There was a discussion on 
the Metric System. 



SELECTED ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

The Canadian Entomologist. — February. On certain species 
of Satyrus, by W. II . Edwards. 

The Geological Magazine. — February. Mr. Hill on the 
cause of the glacial epoch, by James Croll. 

Annals and Magazine of Natural History. — February. On 
some blind Amphipoda of the Caspian sea, by Dr. Oscar Grimm. 

Zeitschrift fur Naturwissenschaftliche Zoologie. — Janu- 
ary 23. On the development of the skull of the salamanders, by 
Ph. Stohr. On the central nervous system of the crayfish, by K- 
R. Krieger. On the convolutions of the cerebral hemispheres of 
the zono-placental mammals, by J. Krueg. 



THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xiv. — MA Y, 1880. — No. 5. 



THE STRUCTURE AND ACTION OF A BUTTERFLY'S 
TRUNK. 

BY EDWARD BURGESS. 

EVERY one knows that butterflies and moths, the insects 
forming the group Lepidoptera, often feed on honey, and that 
for the purpose of obtaining it, they are provided with a long 
trunk, or tongue as it is sometimes called, to reach the nectaries 
of flowers. Sometimes this trunk is very long, in the case of our 
common tomato caterpillar moth, for example, its length is three 
inches, while in some allied moths of tropical regions it is greatly 
longer, and botanists and entomologists have often pointed out 
the relation existing between the length of various long-tubed 
flowers and of the trunks of some species of moths in the same 
region. 

Thanks to the acuteness of Savigny, entomologists have long 
known that this trunk is not an organ sni generis, but simply the 
metamorphosed maxillcz, or second pair of jaws of biting insects, 
which have become specialized to form a sucking tube. The man- 
dibles or first pair of jaws, which, while the insect was in the 
caterpillar stage were well developed to bite off pieces of leaves or 
other substances then its food, are, in the perfect butterfly, reduced 
to the merest rudiments (Fig. 1, md), only to be found by carefully 
brushing away the thick covering of scales and hairs. The pair 
of maxillae, on the contrary, grow each into a long, gently-tapering 
organ with a deep groove along its inner surface ; which surface 
being applied to that of the opposite maxilla, and held in this 
position by a sort of dove-tailing lock, there is formed a hollow 
trunk through which liquid food can be drawn into the mouth. 



314 The Structure and Action of a Butterfly 's Trunk. [May, 

trunk is coiled into a close spiral, and lies 

head, hidden between the large and hairy 

, a feelers of the lower lip — 

the labial palpi — which are 

specially developed for this 

Now although, as just 
said, these facts have long 
been known, the mechan- 
ism for sucking liquids 
through the trunk seems 
never to have been noticed, 
and it has been supposed 

S^^SSh^SS^rS^^ that the p° wer of suction 

:he trunk - lay in the " sucking stom- 




ach," so called, or perhaps in the peristaltic contraction of the 
trunk, or that simply the capillary action of the latter might be 
sufficiently powerful to dispense with any special sucking appa- 
ratus. The anatomy of the trunk has been equally neglected and 
misunderstood. Thus even Burmeister believed that each half 
had a canal of its own, and Newport described non-existing hori- 
*^^. zontal muscles, and otherwise mistook the muscu- 
IgjjK lar mechanism. 

Ig&ajl Having been for some time engaged in studying 

<E$W the anatomy of the " emperor," as Mr. Scudder has 

Wmm christened Danais archippus, our largest and very 

g&2* common butterfly, I will describe the mouth or- 

^%JP gans of this species, the same plan of structure 

jt$SB ' prevailing through the whole group of Lepidop- 

fiSSp - tera, at least wherever I have examined repre- 

"?& sentatives. 

trunk o{~D iP a°J In the " emperor" then, the trunk is about fif- 

chippus from out- teen millimeters long, with a width at the base of 

mfied gr The rin S s about % mm,J from which lt gradually tapers to a 

are really black point at the tip. Externally a sort of coat-of-mail 

^n t erine n i ae appearance is given by its composition of an im- 

s p a c e s delicate mense number of rings (Fig. 2) (or rather portions 

an transparen . ^ rings, the inner segments being of course wanting) 

which being united by more yielding parts of the cuticle, evidently 

permit the rolling up of the whole organ, while i 



1 880.] 75k Structure and Action of a Butterfly 's Trunk. 3 1 5 

same time the necessary stiffness. The rings are not perfectly 
regular, but vary in width and are here and there broken, or 
branch and anastomose. 

Figure 2 shows a few of their irregularities, but they are less 
apparent at the tip than higher up. With a strong magnifying 
power the rings are seen to be made up of little plates 1 soldered 
together, except on the front surface near the inner edge of the 
maxilla, where the plates become separated and more or less 
hexagonal. Dotted over the whole surface, but more thickly at 
the tip, are seen little circular plates with a minute transparent 
papilla in the center. These are believed to be metamorphosed 
hairs, and in some butterflies and moths become greatly and 
peculiarly developed, 2 and are supposed by Fritz Muller to be 
organs of the sense of taste or touch, perhaps both, kreitenbach, 
however, thinks they play the part of teeth on a saw or file, and 
serve to tear the delicate flower tissues for obtaining the sweet 
juices contained 
in them. In th< 
famous orange 
sucking mol 
(Ophideresfullo. 
tea J, which sorm 

damages the or- 
ange harvests, Mr. 
Francis Darwin 3 
has described the 
remarkable arma- 




ture at the tip of 

the trunk, which enables the moth 



the thick skii 



an orange, and one set of the curious spines 

ply our small papillse much developed and specialized. These 

3y examining Figs. 3 and 4 it will be evident that these plates are the bases of 
! pyramid-shaped bodies (in some regions more lik 
t nails or tacks) which are imbedded in, or rather specia 



nd hy the underlying matrix or hypoderm. It is 


LtTmTrob- riG.3.B. 


t>le that each pyramid corresponds to a single ce 


11 of the hypoderm. 


2 See papers by Breitenbach in Katter's Entomo 


il. Nachr., v, 238, and in the Ai 


!ik '-»>- Arm., xv. Sand xvi, 30S. 




S Quart. Jour. Mia: Set., XV, 385. 





316 The Structure and Action of a Butterfly 's Trunk. [May, 

hair structures in the emperor, however, are not prominent enough, 
one would think, for mechanical action, and in this and similar 
cases, their function is probably wholly that of touch or taste. 
This view is strengthened by their occurrence also within the tube, 
where they appear, but in lesser numbers. 

If we imbed the trunk in a mass of paraffine or soap, 1 and cut 
some thin transverse sections, we shall obtain with the microscope 
a view of its structure as seen in Fig. 3. Each half of the trunk, 
that is, each maxilla — has a sort of moon-shaped section, the lower 
horn of which is snugly dovetailed to the lower horn of the oppo- 
site half, while the upper horns are drawn out into long processes, 
which simply interlace like the fingers of one hand with the 
other. There is thus inclosed a central canal open from base to 
tip of the trunk, and its walls are made up of broad but thin, 
semicircular plates, whose narrow edges give the canal wall, seen 
from the side, much the appearance of a 
large trachea, or air-tube (Fig. 4, c). 
Each half of the trunk also contains a 
real air-tube (tr, Figs. 3 and 4), a nerve 
{n) and two sets of muscles (m x and m 2 ), 
while the rest of the space is filled out 




fl It has generally been believed 2 that the 

^J trunk is extended by muscular action, 

-1— - m being rolled up in repose by its own elas- 
I ticity, like a watch-spring, but the trunk 

I muscles seem, at first sight, to be ar- 

| ranged for just the opposite state of 

* things. They are grouped in two sets in 

each half of the trunk, each set arising 
on the anterior surface, and proceeding 
mai sec- diagonally downward and backward to 
down the be inserted on the posterior surface. They 
IscieL'* conver g e too > m this course, so that, 
re spaced viewed from in front, the two sets of mus- 
] " j , " gj| cles form a series of V's one above the 
is the 'outer one.' other. One of the sets is seen in the ver- 
ion of the right maxilla (Fig. 4), and if we examine this 
:ctions given by Dr. C. S. Minot in the Naturalist for April, 1877. 

: :ie are engraved 
irregular. The inner boundary of the cuticle is also omitted. 



1 880.] The Structure and Action of a Butterfly's Trunk. 317 

figure, it would seem that by the contraction of the muscles, the 
posterior side of the trunk is pulled upwards, and of course 
shortened, and the shortening taking place along the whole side, 
the result would be the spiral rolling up of the trunk, with the 
posterior side within the coil. These diagonal muscles are the 
only ones to be found, and Newport certainly errs in speaking of 
annular muscles. On the view of the muscular action just taken, 
it is evident that the trunk must be unrolled and extended by its 
own elasticity, and not the reverse, a theory which is certainly 
very questionable, but at present I am unable to offer a better, and 
must leave the point to the decis 
tainly no writer I have 
found has thrown the 
least light upon the sub- 
ject, or even given a cor- 
rect general description < 
of the muscular arrange- 

At the base of the 
trunk large muscular 
bands run into it from the 
head in a diagonally op- 
posite direction to the 
trunk muscles, and are 



ert. d ■ 



thr , 




5£* 



surface. Their contrac- 
tion of course pulls the FlG . 5 _ L on g itudi 
whole trunk-coil closely &"*«* 
up under the head. cavityf ll^lZr a 

Following now the the P a P illK of taste; f» ^^^jJ^Fm^L 
trunk canal upwards into muscles which hold the oral 

the interior of the butter- sack in its position - 

fly's head, we find (Fig. 5) that it ends in what we may here call a 
mouth cavity, which is laterally expanded, but has no great 
diameter from front to back, that is, from palate to floor. The 
mouth cavity lies in a muscular sack (Fig. 6, seen from above), 
which is suspended within the head by five muscles, a lateral 
Pair (lm), a dorsal pair (dm) and one frontal (fm). This 
oral sack is composed of muscular fibres running in a variety 
of directions as will be seen in Fig. 5 ; Fig. 6 shows the exterior 
appearance of the organ and its suspending muscles ; the slender 



3 1 8 The Structure and Action of a Butterfly's Trunk. [May, 

oesophagus (oc) is seen entering it from above and behind. From 
the palate, just above the origin of the trunk, projects a triangular 
muscular flap, which we may call the oral valve (Fig. 5, ov) as it 
serves to close the mouth. 

The floor of the mouth is made of a thick chitinized crust, 
cl with a longitudinal fur- 

row between two con- 
vex regions; the floor 
^<-. "^ ^V thus somewhat resem- 

*«.._■;_ S ' ff \cor bles in shape the hu- 

^ \ man breast. Each con- 

1 \ vexity is dotted over 

^ 1 with minute transpa- 

/ rent papillae, which are, 

•i \^s ^ ^ / papillae already de- 

\ scribed, on the surface 

1 of the trunk. It seems 

highly natural to regard 

,,,.. rv^ r,,, the papillae, in this sit- 

Fig. 6.— Interior view of the bottom of the head, v v ' 

the top having been cut away, showing in the mid- uation at least, as taste 

S Xtt =£ p™; «■«* but I have not 

lm; d, clypeus; cor, cornea of the compound eye succeeded in recogniz- 
(the left eye is not drawn); oc, oesophagus ; pm, • .1 • „ ^„_ „„ 

one of the large muscles which move the labial m S their nervous COn- 

palp- nection. 

The palate of the mouth, unlike the floor, is lined with a deli- 
cate membrane. The suspensory muscles of the oral sack pierce 
the muscular wall of the latter and reach the palatal membrane. 
Their contraction would evidently draw the palate away from the 
floor of the mouth, thus enlarging its cavity. At the base of the 
trunk, on its lower surface, the common duct (s d) of the two lat- 
eral salivary glands opens as is shown in Fig. 5. 

From the anatomy of these parts we may understand that the 
butterfly obtains its food in the following manner: The trunk is 
unrolled and inserted in the nectary of a flower ; at this moment 
the muscles which suspend the oral sack contract, and the mouth 
cavity is thus extended, creating a vacuum which must be sup- 
plied by a flow of honey through the trunk into the mouth. 
When the mouth is full the muscular sack contracts, the oral 
valve closes the aperture to the trunk and the honey is forced 



1 8 80.] The Critics of Evolution. 3 1 9 

backward into the oesophagus. The mouth cavity is then again 
opened and the same process repeated. To prevent the food being 
sucked back from the oesophagus, it is probable that some of the 
numerous fibres in the muscular sack near the origin of the for- 
mer can, by contraction, close its opening, but in any case as the 
trunk presents a free tube, and the oesophagus leads into the 
closed alimentary canal, it is evident that the former offers the 
easiest route for a supply to fill the mouth vacuum. 

In the muscular mouth sack, we have thus a pumping organ, 
of action too simple to be misunderstood. As for the so-called 
" sucking stomach," its delicate membranous structure is cer- 
tainly not adapted for sucking functions, and it probably serves 
only, as a reservoir. It is usually found to contain nothing else 
than air, but Newport asserts that immediately after feeding food 
is also found in it. 



THE CRITICS OF EVOLUTION. 

BY J. S. LIPPINCOTT. 

'THERE is a large class of minds even among those who esteem 
^ themselves educated, who have no acquaintance with science 
and another, perhaps equally large, who have no idea of what is 
meant by the scientific spirit. These all imagine, perhaps, that the 
world of things or phenomena around them, has ever been pretty 
much as it now appears to the superficial gaze, and that men have 
always known about as much about the earth, its origin, develop- 
ment and productions, as they now know. They appear to 
be unconscious of the fact that a century ago we knew almost 
nothing of the constitution of matter, and were holding the 
same crude and puerile ideas about nature that were held 
by the ancients 3000 years ago. They do not seem to be 
aware that but few conquests, from the domain of the un- 
known had been made in physical astronomy, and that almost 
all our knowledge of the composition of the earth and its 
myriads products, animal, vegetable and mineral, have not yet 
been reached. 
A century ago the simplest phenomena were inexplicable ; no 



320 The Critics of Evolution. [May, 

man knew why he breathed, or why a candle burned ; why a plant 
grew; what use a leaf served; what the air is composed of; or 
that water is a compound fluid. A century ago, many more than 
even now-a-days, were perfectly indifferent as to the nature of 
things around them, regarding them, shall we say, with brute 

Why this ignorance of nature ? The science of chemistry, a 
new revelation of the wisdom of the Creator, had not yet dawned 
upon the childhood of ignorance. When men began to question 
nature in the scientific spirit, began to weigh and measure and to 
question again and again while doubt rested upon her replies, 
they entered upon the path of discovery. This path has since 
been ardently pursued by hundreds of minds, qualified for the 
noble task of explaining His ways in the earth, by elucidating 
the method He is employing daily around us and within us, 
and by which He has ever been laboring for the good of His 
creatures. By following the path of research, accumulating 
facts, collating them, and constructing theories that would most 
fully account for the interdependence of the phenomena observed, 
man has penetrated into the mysteries of creation and in some 
directions already stands almost upon the brink of " the unknow- 
able," beyond which it is impossible for finite minds to go. 
As each grand generalization has prepared him to take a new 
stand-point, and from thence to obtain a wider view of natural 
phenomena, his conceptions have become more comprehensive, 
until he may yet grasp the origin of the universe and been enabled 
to understand the laws by which it was condensed from the all 
pervading nebulous condition which has been termed chaos. 

Many we are aware denounce theories as vain imaginings ; but 
such should learn that a theory is but an expression of the rela- 
tions of phenomena, a condensed presentation of all the facts in 
their natural order, and that it is by this artificial memory the en- 
quirer is enabled to grasp his attainments, and to be lifted up as 
by a scaffolding for the more thorough study of new phenomena, 
otherwise incomprehensible, and for the construction of a building 
which shall embody all the truth. Theories, let it be understood, 
are always tentative, always a working apparatus, to be remodeled 
as knowledge advances, and indispensible to its progress. Theories 
are not, as many suppose, the offspring of imagination purely, but 
are like a figure cast within a mold, or like a casting perfectly 



1 8 So.] The Critics of Evolution. 3 2 1 

shaped thereon. The mold upon which theories are formed is 
the mass of facts observed in their just relations, as far as man 
has yet discovered and determined. 

Emboldened by his success, the man of science is pursuing 
the path of discovery, convinced that though there may be many 
things beyond his comprehension, there is nothing that he should 
consider beyond his enquiries. Bacon in his " Advancement of 
Learning," sagely advises, " Let no man out of a weak conceit 
of sobriety, and an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that 
a man can search too far, or be too well studied in the book of 
God's word or in the book of God's works ; divinity or philosophy; 
but rather let men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in 
both." It is in the highest degree probable that the Creator de- 
signed he should follow this path, both for the further development 
of his intellectual powers and for the promotion of the cause of 
truth and righteousness in the earth. It is evident that our en- 
larging conceptions of creative power, widen the avenue through 
which we receive impressions of the Divine glory, and that the 
views of the educated modern scientist are infinitely expanded 
beyond the narrow confined range of the ancients. His new and 
grander generalizations of knowledge are "indeed so many won- 
derful revelations of the Creator, who, as it were, thus speaks 
almost face to face with man. 

Unfortunately many minds, especially those of purely theolog- 
ical bias, appear to be incapable of comprehending the value of 
the grand results that have followed scientific research. They 
hastily dismiss them, with the remark — all these researches are 
merely material — "of the earth, earthy," and beneath the con- 
sideration of beings living in a spiritual world and destined to an 
eternity of spiritual existence. This estimate of the importance 
of the labors of men of science, whose studies have given us al- 
most all the comforts and invaluable appliances that have lifted 
us above our semi-civilized ancestors, appear to us, to be a very 
unworthy and very superficial view. The progress of civilization 
is intimately connected with, is indeed dependent upon, advance 
in the useful arts, which are founded directly upon science, and to 
reject science and contemn its advocates, is to spurn one of the 
chief factors in the work of human elevation. 

Among the grand generalizations or results of the labors of 
naturalists of recent date, is that entitled Evolution, which is in- 



322 The Critics of Evolution. [May, 

deed the noblest product of a century of scientific thought ; the 
top-stone of the intellectual building that man has been erect- 
ing. 

Scientists falsely assumed to be Atheists. — Though it is not a part 
of the mission of science to explain or even to discuss the super- 
natural, philosophers readily admit, that all teal origination is 
supernatural. The question is whether they have yet gone back 
to the origin, and can assert indubitably, that the present forms of 
plants and animals are those originally created by miraculous ex- 
ercise of power. Studying facts and phenomena in reference to 
proximate causes, or endeavoring to trace back the series of causes 
and effects as far as possible, is a process strictly scientific and 
perfectly legitimate. It is the process of all science. Did not 
Newton, by this method, rise from the observation on the fall of 
an apple, to the far-reaching discovery of the laws of gravitation ? 
Let it be observed also as in the highest degree instructive in this 
connection, that Newton, the pious Sir Isaac, the demonstrator of 
the truth of prophecy, a sincere and humble believer in the 
leading doctrines of our religion, — was because of his demonstra- 
tion of the laws by which the universe is sustained, pronounced 
by the ignorant and unwise ultra-pious of his day, an atheist} 
They hastily assumed that, because the philosopher had traced 
the working of the Divine hand, had demonstrated the method 
by which He labors, that God had been shut out of the creation. 
Here is something more foolish than any philosophy, and paralleled 
only by the reasoning of our champion Anti-Evolutionists. 

The path pursued by Newton is that followed by Darwin, who 
has adhered to the scientific spirit, deeming the task of science 
to be, as expressed by Agassiz, " to investigate what has been 
done, to inquire if possible how it has been done, rather than to 
ask what is possible for the Deity, since we can know that only 
by what actually exists." Though Darwin has not deemed it his 
duty to become an exponent of natural theology, he has emphat- 



Milton, and even Howard and Fenelon, have had these weapons hurled ut them. 
<• The Warfare of Science," by Andrew D. White, LL.D., President of Cornell Uni- 



1880.] The Critics of Evolution. 323 

ically contradicted the base charge brought against him that " he 
does not recognize and does not admit either Divine agency or 
Divine supervision in furnishing, or in peopling the world." This 
view is nowhere expressed in his books. I believe he nowhere 
uses the phrase "fortuitous conjunction of circumstances," which 
some of his critics " roll as a sweet morsel under their tongues," 
nor can his language " natural selection " be rightly construed to 
mean any such fortuitous conjunction;" nor does he "sneer at 
the idea of any manifestation of design in the material universe." 
Darwin maintains that the origination of a species, no less than 
that of an individual is natural. He has also defined his meaning 
of the word natural, and asserts, choosing the language of the 
distinguished Bishop Butler, whom none will deny was thoroughly 
orthodox, 1 " The only distinct meaning of the word ' Natural' is, 
stated, fixed, or settled, since what is natural as much requires and 
presupposes an intelligent agent to render it so — that is — to effect it 
continually or at stated times — as what is supernatural or miracu- 
lous does to effect it for once." 

This passage from Butler Darwin has placed at the very portal of 
his work " The origin of species by means of natural selection or 
the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life," — upon 
the reverse of the title page, where it should be the first to meet 
the eye of the reader. 

Here is an emphatic acknowledgment of belief in Divine 
agency, a recognition of intelligent supervision throughout the 
" processes of evolution." It is no part of our mission to account 
for the vagaries of the critics friendly to Darwin, who have mis- 
construed his principles. He must speak for himself, and he has 
here spoken in unmistakable language. 

Evolution Generally Accepted. — Few of the objections that 
sprang into life the moment the doctrine of development was pro- 
posed for our acceptance, now give evidence of persistent vitality. 
Time has consigned, or is consigning, them to oblivion, and 
"evolution is taking its place as part of the furniture of the human 
mind." 

1 " Analogy of Religion natural and revealed to the constitution and course of na- 
ture," by Joseph Butler, Lord Bishop of Durham. This passage appears in chap, i 
of Part I. on Natural Religion, on p. 105 of Harper's edition of Bishop Butler's 



324 The Critics of Evolution. [May, 

Like other accepted theories, evolution is the natural growth 
of closer and deeper observation, and therefore of more accurate 
knowledge of the relations of facts. The doctrines of evolution 
have been reached in the perfectly legitimate manner by which 
all the other great truths of science have been discovered. It has 
been a natural outgrowth from facts, and is not, as some suppose, 
an invention sprung from the imagination of a dreamer. It is one 
department of " that science which is but common sense method- 
ized and extended," and " is indeed the highest stage of human 
knowledge." 

It has appeared to us to be a reasonable opinion that any one 
endowed with the scientific spirit would not go to a theologian 
to obtain a just estimate of the value of a scientific theory, but 
would visit an enlightened expert for an opinion. " The former 
class continually labor to make tradition confront discovery and 
feel constrained to view with jealous distrust the rapid advance- 
ment of practical knowledge." Their inquiries are not whether 
any new fact is absolutely true, but whether it is in accordance 
with conceptions they consider established. Those who really 
desire to learn what evolution is, and its profound significance, and 
are possessed of the proper faith in nature as a revealer of intel- 
lectual truth, will not consult Joseph Cook's " Biology," the scien- 
tific charlatanry of which has been thoroughly exposed in the 
New Englander for January, 1879, where its taste and rhetoric 
have been pronounced " execrable," and which in the Saturday 
Review is the subject of an article entitled " Spread Eagle Philoso- 
phy." With his religious sentiments properly, we have no contro- 
versy. Nor would they look with any confidence upon the 
objections of writers whom they should no more regard as 
authority on scientific questions than they incline to accept their 
views on theology. Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, has been well 
answered by Dr. Gray in his " Darwiniana," 1 to which I would 
refer the reader. One of his remarks may as well here be repro- 
duced ; " It may be well to remember that of the two great 
minds of the 17th century, Newton and Leibnitz, both profoundly 
religious as well as philosophical, one produced the theory of 
gravitation, the other objected to that theory, that it was subver- 
sive of natural religion ; also that the nebular hypothesis,' a natu- 

1 What is Darwinism ? by Charles Hodge, Princeton N. J. By Asa Gray in his 



i88o.] The Critics of Evolution. 325 

ral consequence of the theory of gravitation and of the subse- 
quent progress of physical and astronomical discovery, has been 
denounced as atheistical even down to our day. It has now out- 
lived anathema," and is no longer rejected even by theologians. 

Dr. Asa Gray acknowledges that Darwin in his style is loose, 
and that he might have been more guarded had he chosen to be 
so. Dr. Gray, however, acquits him of all atheistic intent, and 
remarks that his view may be made clear to the theological mind 
by likening it to that of the " believer in the general but not in 
particular Providence," a view which prevails among mankind. 1 
There is no need, says Gray, " to cull passages from his works to 
support this interpretation, while the author — the most candid of 
men — retains throughout all the editions of the " Origin of Spe- 
cies," the two mottoes from Dr. Whewell and Bishop Butler, 
which, by implication, entirely acquit him of atheism. 

It may be well to quote the passage from Dr. Whewell, the able 
author of "A History of the Inductive Sciences;" that from 
Butler has already been adduced : " But with regard to the mate- 
rial world, we can at least go so far as this— we can perceive that 
events are brought about not by insulated interpositions of Divine 
power exerted in each particular case, but by the establishment of 
general laws." (Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise.) 

Another extract from Dr. Gray we will present the reader. 
In physical and physiological treatises, the most religious men do 
not think it necessary to postulate the First Cause, nor are they 
misjudged by the omission. But surely Darwin does acknowledge 
a Creator, not only by implication but most explicitly where one 
would most naturally look for it, namely — at the close of the vol- 
ume in question. " Authors of the highest eminence seem to be 
fully satisfied with the view that each species has been indepen- 
dently created. To my mind it accords better with what we 
know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the pro- 
duction and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the 
world, should have been due to secondary causes, like those 
determining the birth and death of the individual" * * * 
" there is grandeur in the view of life, with its several powers, 
having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms, or 
into one ; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on accord- 
ing to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless 

'Darwinian*, p. 258. 



326 The Critics of Evolution. [May, 

forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being 
evolved." 1 " If these expressions," says Dr. Asa Gray, " do not 
refer the efficiency of physical causes to the First Cause, what 
form of words could he use." 2 

The Teleology of Evolution. — One of our objecting critics for- 
gets that he is quoting from an old work of Huxley's, where he 
says " that which struck me most forcibly was the conviction that 
teleology (the science of Final Causes) had received its death 
blow at Darwin's hands." 

To the above I may reply, following Dr. Gray and other able 
defenders of Darwinism, that as regards the old teleology, the 
less said in its defense the better for the cause of religion. The 
difficulties which its principles will not explain are many and 
serious. 3 Darwinian teleology has the special advantage of 
accounting for the imperfections and failures which have loaded 
the doctrine of teleology with far more than it could bear. The 
Darwinian teleology not only accounts for the failures and the 
successes, but it turns them to practical account. In Darwinism 
we have a teleology that accords with, where it does not explain, 
the principal facts, and is free from the common objections. The 
Darwinian system, as we understand it, coincides with the theistic 
view of nature; it not only acknowledges purpose, but builds 
upon it. It understands all nature to be of a piece, and it is clear, 
therefore, that design is in some way mixed up with it. If adap- 
tation and utility are the marks of design, what then, we would 
ask, are the organs not adapted to use the marks of? — and there 
are numerous functionless organs in almost every species of ani- 
mal. Man has sundry perfectly useless parts which the old tel- 
eology cannot account for, and which are great stumbling blocks 
in the way of the olden style natural theologians. But evolution 
shows their true place and demonstrates that these structures are 
relics of a former state of being. " It is," says Haeckel, 4 precisely this 
widespread and mysterious phenomenon of rudimentary organs, 
in regard to which all other attempts at explanation fail, which is 

l" On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection.' &c. By Charles 
Darwin. New York, 1873. New edition from the sixth English edition, &c, pp. 

2 Durwiniana. By Dr. Asa Gray. Pages 370, 378, 379. • 
s Darwiniana. By Dr. Asa Gray. Pages 268, 269. 

*» The History of Creation; or the Development of the Earth and its Inhabitants 
by the action of Natural Causes," by Ernst Haeckel. 1876. Vol. I, p. 16. 



1 880.] The Critics of Evolution. 327 

perfectly explained, and indeed in the simplest and clearest way, 
by Darwin's ' Theory of Inheritance and Adaptation.' " 

These remarks could be greatly extended, with vivid demon- 
stration, but I must content myself with referring to an admirable 
popular work by William D. Gunning, entitled " Life History of 
our Planet" where one may learn that the human body is a 
" library of anatomical history." Finally, I adduce the testimony 
of Dr. McCosh, an unimpeachable witness, who asserts that, "the 
doctrine of development does not undermine nor in any way 
interfere with the argument from design." 1 

Dissent of Agassis. — Much stress has been placed upon the 
dissent of Agassiz and Dawson from the views of the evolutionists, 
and they are quoted as veterans who of course we are bound to 
regard as speaking ex cathedra, and therefore not to be gainsayed. 
u Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him ? was 
asked of old," and some critics ask the same question and forget 
that it is recorded of Christ, " For neither did his brethren be- 
lieve in him." What to the seeker for truth does it matter now 
or did it matter then, who believed or now believes ? The vota- 
ries of science are not swayed by authorities but by truth. Their 
motto should ever be, " Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." 
The opinions of aged men, unless they have kept themselves 
abreast of the thought of the day, are frequently unwise, and are 
seldom regarded by those who prefer to seek truth for its own 
sake regardless of the reflections of Mrs. Grundy. " By the 
time," I have heard a most eminent man of science observe, 
"by the time a man of science attains eminence on any sub- 
ject he becomes a nuisance upon it, because," if advanced in 
age, " he is sure to retain errors which were in vogue in his youth, 
but which the new race has refuted. These are the sort of ideas 
that find their home in Academies, and out of their dignified win- 
dows pooh-pooh new things." (Bagehot's Physics and Politics, 
P- 60.) 

Science enjoys perpetual youth. Her votaries grow old and 
pass away, and their opinions with them, unless founded on eter- 
nal principles. " Her goal to-day is her starting point to-mor- 
row." It is an historical fact that no physician over forty years 
of age at the time of the discovery of the circulation of the blood 



328 The Critics of Evolution. [May, 

by Harvey, ever believed in that discovery. Why did they not 
believe in it ? Because it was not in accord with their inherited 
prejudices, with the experience of their lives, and their personal 
pride scouted at the discovery, by a young man, of valuable facts 
that they ought themselves to have seen long ago, were they true. 
Thus it was with Agassiz, who ought to have seen the truth of 
evolution long ago, for he contributed a large body of material 
for the verification of the theory. His embryological discoveries 
offer conclusive evidence of its truth. This his pupils saw, but 
their master, blinded by his Cuvierian education and belief in dis- 
tinct specific creations, could never reach the truth, though dissat- 
isfied with the hypothesis of creation as recorded in Genesis. He 
published a theory of distinct creations in many separate geographi- 
cal centers, and was, therefore, quite heretical. The doctrine of 
evolution covers all this ground more satisfactorily, and his theory 
is disregarded. Why was this master in research incapable of 
impressing his views upon his pupils, with whom he was person- 
ally so popular? Because young and unprejudiced they sought 
truth for its own sake, and loved it better than even they did their 
admired teacher. His opposition to Darwinism, they now openly 
assert, served to make them more careful in their scrutiny into 
its weak points as described or imagined by him, and he was thus 
of real service in training his pupils for the adoption of the doc- 
trine of evolution. " Of all the younger brood of naturalists 
whom Agassiz educated, every one — Morse, Shaler, Verrill, 
Niles, Hyatt, Scudder, Putnam, even his own son — has accepted 
evolution." {Popular Science Monthly, Feb., 1880.) 

In direct opposition to palaeontological experience, that many 
species of organic beings have continued unchanged through 
successive periods of the earth's history, while others have existed 
during only a small portion of such a period, Agassiz maintained 
that one and the same species never occurs in two different 
periods, but that each individual period is characterized by spe- 
cies peculiar thereto and belonging to it exclusively. In this he 
shares Cuvier's opinion that all the inhabitants of successive geo- 
logical formations were annihilated by the revolutions which 
divide two periods of the earth's palaeontological history, and 
that a new and specifically different assemblage of organisms was 
created and suddenly placed upon the earth in large numbers by 
the Creator. " Pines," says Agassiz, " have originated in forests, 



i88o.] The Critics of Evolution. 329 

heath in heather, grasses in prairies, bees in hives, herring in 
shoals, buffaloes in herds and men in nations." 1 

The present terrestrial fauna of Australia is acknowledged to 
be unique, and is it not essentially a remnant of the fauna of the 
Jurassic or even of an earlier age ? " There is a wonderful rela- 
tionship," says Darwin, " in the same continent between the dead 
and the living." On the hypothesis of evolution there is no diffi- 
culty in admitting that the differences between the Miocene forms 
of Mammalia and those which exist at present, are the results of 
gradual modification. " The hypothesis of evolution explains the 
facts of Miocene, Pliocene and recent distributions," says Huxley, 
" and no other supposition even pretends to account for them." 

The division of the Tertiary into Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene 
and Post-pliocene according to the preponderance in number of 
extinct or recent shells, evidently admits that many species have 
persisted through the changes that have destroyed others. 

The late T. A. Conrad, a pronounced opponent of evolution, 
asserts in his " Descriptions of new Genera and Species of Fossil 
Shells of North Carolina," 2 that " it is a generally received opinion 
that some species of Miocene shells escaped the destruction of 
the general fauna," and that " the small amount of variation, and 
in some species none at all, seems to indicate that some few kinds 
of shells are now living which originated in the Miocene period." 
" Among these shells, the Oliva littcrata (Lam.) lives in myriads 
in Tampa bay, whilst there is a Miocene Oliva equally abundant 
in the bank of Cape Fear river, which offers no characters by 
which to distinguish it from that fossil species." The same 
remark is made respecting the fossil Marginella limatula (Conrad), 
a species living on the coast of South Carolina, while he suspects 
identity of the fossil and the living may be shown to exist among 
many other species. 

In his paper on " The Relations of the Horizons of Extinct 
Vertebrata of Europe and North America," Prof. E. D. Cope has 
shown that " the characteristic of the Pliocene fauna in Europe is 
the fact that the species belong mostly to existing genera." " In 
the Equus beds of Oregon, a few extinct genera in like manner 
share the field with various recent ones, while not a few of the 

1 Essay on Classification. Contributions to Natural History of the United States. 
By L. Agassiz. Vol. I. p. 39. 
2 " Report of the Geological Survey of N. Carolina," by W. C. Kerr. 1875. Ap- 



330 The Critics of Evolution. [May, 

bones are not distinguishable from those of recent species." 
Thus the bones of the fossil beaver and wolf cannot be distin- 
guished from those of the recent, while they are also associated 
with the remains of an extinct fossil elephant, horse and llama. 
The species derived from the cave formations of the Eastern States, 
which Cope names the Megalonyx beds, also present many in- 
stances of extinct species mixed with the remains of those repre- 
sented by the living ground-hog, porcupine, hare and rabbit and 
from which they cannot be distinguished. 

In further illustration of this error of Agassiz, we may also cite 
the continued existence of the Lingulcs, formerly included among 
mollusks, but now shown- to be allied more closely to worms. 
The Ling-nits were numerous and important in earlier geological 
ages and have been continued almost from the dawn of life and as 
they exist in the primordial " are scarcely to be distinguished as 
even Prof. Dawson acknowledges 1 from those of the members 
of the genus which still live." The original Lingulcs were re- 
markable for the presence of phosphate of lime in their shells, a 
peculiarity not found in the shells of mollusks generally, which 
are hardened by the presence of carbonate of lime. The modern 
Lingulte present the same peculiarity and exhibits the wonderful 
persistence with which they adhere to the original type. 

It was the merit of Agassiz that he drew especial attention to 
the remarkable parallelism between the embryonal and the palae- 
ontological or the development through time and the development 
of organic species, genera and tribes, which is claimed as one of 
the strongest pillars of the theory of descent or of evolution. No 
one before had so distinctly stated as Agassiz did, that of verte- 
brate animals, fishes alone existed at first, that amphibians came 
next, and that birds and mammals appeared only at a much later 
period, and moreover that among mammals, as among fishes, im- 
perfect and lower orders had appeared first, and more perfect 
higher orders at a later period. He thus showed that the palaeon- 
tological development of the vertebrates was not only parallel 
with the embryonic, but also with the systematic development or 
the graduated series which we see everywhere is ascending from 
the lower to the higher classes, orders, &c. Haeckel. This doc- 
trine is explained quite simply and naturally by the doctrine oi 
descent, or a historical succession, and without it, is perfectly fa- 

1 " The Story of the Earth and Man," by J. W. Dawson. 1873. p. 41- 



1 8 8o.] The Critics of Evolution. 3 3 1 

explicable. " So far as Agassiz's work, entitled ' An Essay on 
Classification,' pretends to be a scientific history of creation, it is 
undoubtedly a complete failure." 1 

We are indebted to a paper entitled " Agassiz and Darwinism," 
by John Fiske, in the Popular Science Monthly, Vol. Ill, for most 
of the following' remarks upon the cause of Agassiz's inability to 
perceive the truths of evolution. 

The frequency with which the name of Agassiz has been 
brought before the American people through his contributions to 
geology, palaeontology and systematic zoology, has rendered his 
name very popular, and given rise to the opinion that he was the 
greatest of naturalists. He by right occupied a very high position, 
but no exceptional supremacy can be rightly claimed for him. 
Both for learning and for sagacity, the names of Asa Gray, Prof. 
Wyman, Huxley, J. D. Hooker, Sir Charles Lyell, Ernst Haeckel 
and Gegenbauer, are quite as illustrious as the name of Agassiz, and 
these are the names of men who openly endorse and defend the 
Darwinian theory. Many imagine that because Agassiz studied 
extinct and living organisms through a life-time of research, 
that his opinions with reference to the relations of present life 
upon the globe to past life, ought to be conclusive. The distin- 
guished Darwinian naturalists above named, are equally well 
qualified to form an opinion, and have arrived at conclusions 
diametrically opposite to those taught by Agassiz. Why this re- 
sult? Not because Agassiz did not possess the power of philoso- 
phizing, but because he philosophized on unsound principles. He 
erred because his philosophy was not the natural outgrowth from 
the facts of nature, which lay at his disposal, but is made up out 
of sundry traditions of his youth, and because he long ago 
brought his mind to acquiesce in various generalizations of a 
thoroughly unscientific or non-scientific character, the further 
maintenance of which appeared to him to be incompatible with 
the Darwinian theory. He also evidently arrived too early at that 
rigidity of mind which prevents us from properly comprehending 
new theories, and which we should all of us dread as a real evil. 
It has been broadly asserted by a learned writer familiar with the 
Darwinian controversy, that he has never met with any indication 
that Agassiz knew what the Darwinian theory really is ! " Against 
a development as it was taught forty years ago he was fond of 

1 " The History of Creation," by Ernst Haeckel. Vol. I . , p. 7°- 



332 HaW s Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

uttering his expressions of dislike, but with the modern develop- 
ment theory he never betrays the slightest acquaintance, but con- 
tents himself with making profoundly dark metaphysical phrases 
do the work which properly belongs to observation and induc- 
ts be continued^ 



HALL'S SECOND ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 1 

OF the many men who have won fame in Arctic exploration, 
none have manifested greater heroism and perseverance than 
Charles Francis Hall. His ardent faith, which persuaded him to 
believe in the existence of some member of the lost expedition of 
Sir John Franklin at as late a period as twenty years after the 
abandonment of the Erebus and Terror, sustained him amidst the 
perils and hardships and disappointments of nearly eight years 
of life amongst the Esquimaux. Alone, with very slender means, 
he was yet able to obtain much important information regarding 
the fate of the officers and crews of that most unfortunate expe- 
dition, and to add materially to our geographical knowledge of 
the regions bordering upon the Cumberland gulf and the Bay of 

The story of his last voyage in the Polaris, and his death at 
almost the furthest Northern point yet reached by explorers is 
well known. Of his first journey, in 1860-62, to the Cumberland 
gulf and Frobisher's bay, he has given us a full account in his 
"Arctic Researches." But until now no account has been given 
to the public of his longest and most successful journey. This 
occupied a period of five years and six months, and upon his 
return home he began immediately his preparations for his North 
Polar expedition, and was unable to prepare an account of his 
travels. Fortunately his journals and notes, mostly carefully 
made and preserved, were in the possession of his family, and 
were purchased from them by the Navy Department under an 



»N 


arrative of 


the Second i 


Irctic Expedition mad 


e by Charles F. Hal 


I. F 


lisvoy- 


age t. 


1 Repulse t 


)ay, Sledge J, 


Durneys to the Straits 


of Fury and Hecla 


and t 


Ivlited 


Willi: 


im's Land, 


and Residence among the Eskimos d 


uring the years 1864- 


-•69. 


undei 


the orders 


of the Hon. 


Secretary of the Navy 


by Prof. J. E. Nourse, 1} 


r . S. N. 


u. s. 


Naval Observatory. 











1 88o.] 



H all's Second Arctic Expedit 



ith his private correspondence, form 
r published by the National Govern- 



Prof. J. E. Nourse of the Naval Observatory, who, upon the 
death of Admiral Davis, completed for publication the " Narrative 
of the North Polar Expedition," was ordered to prepare this 
work, and has performed the duty assigned him most successfully, 




m the collection 
Arctic explorations. 

In a preliminary chapter, tables are given sh< 
English and American explorations for the north- 
from 1818 to 1845, when Sir John Franklin's e 
England, and also the English and American I 
expeditions from 1848 to i860, and mention is als< 
geographical and scientific results of these voyages. 



all the 



334 HalV s Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

an interesting account of two voyages made from Philadelphia in 
1753-54, by a schooner of about sixty tons, fitted out by sub- 
scription by merchants of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and 
Boston to discover the Northwest passage. 

Although Capt. Hall on his first voyage was unable to reach 
King William's Land or obtain any definite information regarding 
the records of the Franklin Expedition, he returned home inured 
by the hardships of life amongst the Esquimaux, and well pre- 
pared by this experience for the much greater trial of his cour- 
age and perseverance which awaited him. After nearly two 
years spent in efforts to obtain funds and supplies, he again sailed 
on July 1, 1864, in the whaling brig Monticello for Hudson's bay, 
taking with him the Esquimaux, Joe Ebierbing, and his wife, 
Too-koo-li-too. After stopping at Depot island, he finally landed 
at a point on the shore of Roe's Welcome, near Wager bay, 
on the 31st of August. He was obliged to remain in this neigh- 
borhood with a tribe of Innuits all winter, living in an igloo or 
snow hut. 

" The construction of one of these snow houses, built by the 
Innuits of this region, is described by him substantially as 
follows : After making trial of several banks of show, by plunging 
in their long knives, on finding the proper compactness, they cut 
blocks two to two and a-half feet in length and about eighteen 
inches in thickness. One set is cut from the spot on which the 
igloo is to be built, its floor being thus sunken eighteen inches 
below the general surface. In placing the blocks around this 
excavation, of about ten feet diameter, the first tier is made up of 
those which, by increasing regularly in width, form a spiral from 
right to left. They are laid from within, each being secured by 
a bevel on the one last laid and another bevel on the next one 
below. The joints are well broken. The blocks incline inwardly, 
thus regularly diminishing the diameter of the igloo and fitting it 
for the dome or keystone. Thirty-eight blocks were here used. 
For ventilation, a small hole is usually made by the spear. The 
crevices are well filled with snow within and without, making it 
nearly an air-tight structure. For a window, a small opening cut 
in the dome is filled in usually with a block of clear ice ; in some 
cases with the scraped inner linings of the seal ; this last makes 
a light on which the frost does not settle as upon the ice-blocks. 
The passage-way to the igloo is always long and points toward the 
south. The Repulse bay natives shovel up much more snow upon 
the hut than the Greenlanders do. The igloo lamp is sometimes 
nothing more than a flat stone, about six inches in length, placed 
in a niche cut out of the wall, and having on it a little dry moss 
for a wick, which is supplied with oil by a slice of blubber from 



Hall's Second Arctic l 



the bear or the seal. A stone lamp of better form, although poor 
enough, will give something of a fair light and warmth." 




336 HaWs Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

During the next summer he succeeded in reaching Repulse 
bay, where the winter of 1865-66 was passed, and it was not 
until April, 1866, that he was able to start for King William's 
Land with a small party of natives, three sledges and eighteen 
dogs. On leaving Fort Hope, at the head of Repulse bay, he fol- 
lowed, as nearly as practicable, Dr. Rae's route in 1854, to Col- 
ville bay. From here, however, he was obliged, most reluctantly, 
to return to Fort Hope, owing to the hostility of the tribes occu- 
pying the region around Pelly bay and the timidity of his own 
people. He was, however, able to obtain much interesting infor- 
mation concerning the Franklin expedition. 

" Disappointed but not dismayed " is his entry in his journal on 
his turning back from Colville bay, although he knew another 
winter must elapse before he could hope to reach the goal of his 
journey — the island which witnessed the destruction of the mem- 
orable expedition. The remainder of this year was passed in the 
neighborhood of Repulse bay, the loneliness of his life being 
much relieved by the arrival and detention over the winter of four 
whaling ships. 

Interesting accounts are given of the superstitious customs and 
amusements of the Esquimaux. One of the latter is the per- 
formance on the key-lozv-tik, their bass drum, the only musical 
instrument Hall found among them. " The drum is made from 
the skin of the deer, which is stretched over a hoop made of 
wood, or of bone from the fin of a whale, by the use of a strong 
braided cord of sinew passed around a groove on the outside. 
The instrument weighs about four pounds." The wooden drum 
stick is called a ken-toon. 

" When the key-lozv-tik is played, the drum-handle is held in 
the left hand of the performer, who strikes the edge of the rim 
opposite that over which the skin is stretched. He holds the 
drum in different positions, but keeps it in a constant fan-like 
motion by his hand and by the blows of the ken-toon struck 
alternately on the opposite sides of the edge. Skillfully keeping 
the drum vibrating on the handle, he accompanies this with gro- 
tesque motions of the body, and at intervals with a song, while 
the women keep up their own Innuit songs, one after another, 
through the whole performance. 

" At the first exhibition which Hall witnessed some twenty-five 
men, women and children — every one who could leave home- 
assembled to see the skill of the performers, who would try the 
newly-finished instrument. As usual, the women sat on the plat- 



1880.] Hall 's Second Arctic Expedition. 337 

form, Turk fashion ; the men behind them with extended legs. 
The women were gaily dressed. They wore on each side of the 
face an enormous pig-tail, made by wrapping their hair on a small 
wooden roller a foot in length; strips of reindeer fur being 
wrapped with the hair. These were black and white for those 
who had sons, and black only for those who had none. Shining 
ornaments were worn on the head, and on the breast they had 
masonic-like aprons, the groundwork of which was of a flaming 
red color, ornamented with glass beads of many colors. The 




Playing the Key-low-tik. 

women thus presented a pleasing contrast with the dark vis- 
ages of the men in the background ; while their naked infants 
were playing here and there in a mother's lap, or peering out 
from their nestling place in a hood." 

February and March, 1867, were spent in a journey of more 
than one hundred miles to Ig-loo-lik to procure dogs. He was 
successful in this but suffered much from cold and hunger, and on 
his return to Repulse bay was again, to his bitter disappointment, 
obliged to relinquish his expedition to King William's Land. 



338 HaWs Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

The captains of the whaling fleet, notwithstanding their previous 
promises, now refused to spare him any of their men for this 
journey. 

His courage and perseverance were, however, equal to the situ- 
ation, and he resolutely declined to return home in the autumn. 
A fourth winter found him still in his igloo at his old quarters. 
But his attention was now suddenly diverted from King William's 
Land to the northern extremity of Melville peninsula on the 
shore of Fury and Hecla strait where he now heard of the exis- 
tence of a monument, and was told that two white men had been 
seen there only three years before. Accordingly on March 23, 
1868, he started for this region. The monument was discovered 
on the 24th of April in lat. 6g° 47' 5" N., long. 85 ° 15' W., near 
Cape Crozier. " On either side of the plain on which it stands 
is a river, and hills of delta are north-east of it. It is one hun- 
dred feet above the sea, and near a hill upon the south side of the 
plain." " The spot visited had not been reached by any previous 
Arctic explorer. Parry's officers were not on this western side of 
the peninsula, and Dr. Rae's highest point was 69 ° 5' 35" N. 
(Rae's Narrative, p. 128)." "Dr. Rae could not possibly have 
made this monument and cache, for they both belong together ; 
the latter covered with a deep drift every winter, and when Rae 
was at Cape Crozier in May 1846, the bank of snow must have 
been as deep and hard as the one now there. Besides, Dr. Rae's 
track-chart does not show that he visited the south-east angle of 
' Parry bay." 

The spot, near by where the Innuits stated a cache had been 
made and afterwards removed, leaving the stones in a pile on one 
side, was covered by a huge bank of snow, and after digging to 
the depth of fifteen feet they were unable to find the stones. Two 
tenting places also were found, one of which being very different 
in character from the other made by Esquimaux, was in all prob- 
ability the work of white men. Hall took down the monument, 
stone by stone, but found nothing to indicate who were its 
builders. 

The heretofore unsurveyed coast line between Capes Englefield 
and Crozier was now accurately laid down. An island was dis- 
covered north-west of Cape Englefield, and the islands off the 
cape and the line of the southern coast as far as East cape searched 
thoroughly for monuments or the evidences of the presence of 



^Hj 



children, with two sledges and eighteen dogs, and followed the 
route previously taken in 1866 to Colville bay. Thence crossing 
Pelly bay he visited an encampment of natives of that region 
finding there some relics of the Franklin expedition. 



340 Hall's Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

Continuing on to the coast near Point Acland, opposite King 
William's Land, he found another native settlement where a large 
number of articles from the Erebus and Terror were seen. Leav- 
ing most of his party here he started on May 8, with one of the 
tribe as a guide, on a flying visit to King William's Land, his peo- 
ple insisting on returning to Repulse bay within two weeks. On 
the i ith, Hall encamped on one of the Todd islands off the south- 
eastern extremity of King William's Land. Searching here for 
human remains no satisfactory result was obtained, but the next 
day, crossing to the mainland near the mouth of the Peffer river, 
and digging through the snow, one unburied skeleton was found. 
" The gale above and the hardness and depth of snow under foot 
debarred further search." He also searched with no success at 
another point on the southern coast, further eastward. He was 
then obliged to return to his party, and after some interesting con- 
versations with the natives set out on his return journey, having 
thus been only able to touch at two points on the coast of King 
William's Land and at Todd island, and that too at a season when 
the snow still covered the land. 

On the return journey he was seized with a sudden and serious 
illness, a premonition, no doubt, of the sudden and final attack in 
1 87 1. He reached his old quarters restored to health on June 
20th, his arrival being delayed by the large quantities of game 
found and the frequent musk-ox hunts. When a band of musk 
cattle was discovered and surrounded, "as soon as they perceived 
that the dogs were slipped, they formed into their usual one cir- 
cle of defense, ' a musk-bull battery of nine solid battering heads 
and twice the number of sharpened horns.' The dogs were 
quickly at these heads, barking and jumping back and forward, 
while the hunters made no haste to advance, for they knew that 
the bulls would stand their ground all day if no other enemies 

" ' After a few minutes' watch of the movements of dog versus 
bull and bull versus dog,' the old hunter, In-nook-poo-zhee-jook, 
went forward to within twelve feet of a large bull, carrying a lance 
which had a line attached by which he could draw it back ; but 
at his second throw the wounded and infuriated bull made a " 
ful forward plunge, from the effects of which the hunter and his 
3 escaped only by a very timely jump to the left. The 
as soon again brought to bay. Ou-e-la then pulled trig- 
another noble bull of the circle of defense, and P 



i88o.] HaWs Second Arctic Expedition. 341 

shot the one which had been lanced, when at the noise of these 
guns the whole circle bolted away except two, who stood their 
ground side by side long after the whole fight was ended, and 
even when the dogs were driven away from them and stones had 
been thrown. Instead of moving, each of these two kept throw- 
ing his massive head down between his fore feet, rubbing the tip 
of each horn against the fore leg as one would rub a razor on a 
strop. This is the animal's habit unless he finds himself, when 
attacked, near some large stone which he may use for the same 
purpose of sharpening his horns." 

On August 5th the whaler, Ansell Gibbs, arrived in the bay, 
and his five years of Arctic life came to a close. On September 
26, 1869, he, with Esquimaux Joe, Hannah and her adopted child, 
were safely landed at New Bedford, Mass. 

Having thus briefly indicated the most important events in this 
remarkable journey, we must note the at least partial success 
attained in the execution of the purpose for which it was under- 

While no records of the Franklin expedition were recovered, 
there were many new facts ascertained regarding the last days of 
the members of that wretched company who perished one by one, 
after the abandonment of the Erebus and Terror. As is well known 
these vessels were deserted by their officers and crews, then con- 
sisting of 105 souls, on the 22d of April, 1848, off Point Victory 
near the north-western extremity of King William's Land. Capt. 
Hall in writing to Mr. Henry Grinnell, states : 

" None of Sir John Franklin's companions ever reached or died 
on Montreal Island. It was late in July, 1848, that Crozier and 
his party of about forty or forty-five passed down the west coast 
of King William's Land in the vicinity of Cape Herschel. The 
party was dragging two sledges on the sea-ice, which was nearly 
in its last stage of dissolution : one a large sledge laden with an 
awning-covered boat, and the other a small one laden with provi- 
sions and camp material. Just before Crozier and party arrived 
at Cape Herschel, they were met by four families of natives, and 
both parties went into camp near each other. Two Eskimo men, 
who were of the native party, gave me much sad but deeply in- 
teresting information. Some of it stirred my heart with sadness, 
intermingled with rage, for it was a confession that they, with 
their companions, did secretly and hastily abandon Crozier and 
his party to suffer and die for need of fresh provisions, when in 
truth it was in the power of the natives to save every man alive. 

" The next trace of Crozier and his party is to be found in the 
skeleton which McClintock discovered a little below, to the south- 



342 Hall's Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

ward and eastward of Cape Herschel ; this was never found by 
the natives. The next trace is a camping-place on the sea-shore 
of King William's Land, about three miles eastward of Pfefifer 
river, where two men died and received Christian (?) burial. At 
this place fish-bones were found by the natives, which showed 
them that Crozier and his party had caught while there a species 
of fish excellent for food, with which the sea there abounds. The 
next trace of this party occurs about five or six miles eastward, on 
a long, low point of King William's Land, where one man died 
and was buried. Then, about south-south-east, two and a half-miles 
further, the next trace occurs on Todd's islet, where the remains 
of 'five men lie. The next certain trace of this party is on the 
west side of the islet, west of Point Richardson, on some low 
land that is an island or part of the main land, as the tide may be. 
Here the awning-covered boat and the remains of about thirty or 
thirty-five of Crozier's party were found by the native Poo-yet-ta, 
of whom Sir John Ross has given a description in the account of 
his voyage in the Victory in 1829-34. 

" In the spring of 1849, a large tent was found by the natives 
whom I saw, the floor of which was completely covered with the 
remains of white men. Close by were two graves. This tent 
was a little way inland from the head of Terror bay. In the 
spring of 1861, when the snow was nearly all gone, an Eskimo 
party, conducted by a native well known throughout the northern 
regions, found two boats, with many skeletons in and about them. 
One of these boats had been previously found by McClintock ; 
the other was found lying from a quarter to a half mile distant, 
and must have been completely entombed in snow at the time 
McClintock's parties were there, or they most assuredly would 
have seen it. In and about this boat, beside the skeletons alluded 
to, were found many relics, most of them similar in character to 
those McClintock has enumerated as having been found in the 
boat he discovered. 

" I tried hard to accomplish far more than I did, but not one of 
the company would on any account whatever consent to remain 
with me in that country and make a summer search over that 
island, which, from information I had gained from the natives, I 
had reason to suppose would be rewarded by the discovery of the 
whole of the manuscript records that had been accumulated in 
that great expedition, and had been deposited in a vault a little 
way inland or eastward of Cape Victory. Knowing as I now do 
the character of the Eskimos in that part of the country in which 
King William's Land is situated, I cannot wonder at nor blame 
the Repulse bay natives for their refusal to remain there, as I de- 
sired. It is quite probable that, had we remained there as I 
wished, no one of us would ever have got out of the country 
alive. How could we expect, if we got into straitened circum- 
stances, that we would receive better treatment from the Eskimos 



i88o.] HaW s Second Arctic Expedition. 343 

of that country than the 105 s 
of the heroic Crozier some tin 
Land ? Could I and my party with reasonable safety have : 
mained to make a summer search on King William's Land, it is 
not only probable that we should have recovered the logs and 
journals of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, but have gathered up 
and entombed the remains of nearly 100 of his companions; for 
they lie about the places where the three boats have been found 
and at the large camping-place at the head of Terror bay and the 
three other places that I have already mentioned. In the cove, 
west side of Point Richardson, however, nature herself has 
opened her bosom and given sepulture to the bones of the im- 
mortal heroes who died there. Wherever the Eskimos have 
found the graves of Franklin's companions, they have dug them 
open and robbed the dead, leaving them exposed to the ravages 
of wild beasts. 

" I could have readily gathered great quantities — a very great 
variety— of relics of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, for they are 
now possessed by natives all over the Arctic regions that I 
visited or heard of— from Pond's bay to Mackenzie river. As it 
was, I had to be satisfied with taking upon our sledges about 125 
pounds total weight of relics from natives about King William's 
Land. Some of these I will enumerate : 

" 1. A portion of one side (several planks and ribs fast together) 
of a boat, clinker-built and copper-fastened. This part of a boat 
is of the one found near the boat found by McClintock's party. 
2. A small oak sledge-runner, reduced from the sledge on which 
the boat rested. 3. Part of the mast of the Northwest Passage 
ship. 4. Chronometer-box, with its number, name of the maker, 
and the Queen's broad arrow engraved upon it. 5. Two long 
heavy sheets of copper, three and four inches wide, with counter- 
sunk holes for screw-nails. On these sheets, as well as on most 
everything else that came from the Northwest Passage ship, are 
numerous stamps of the Queen's broad arrow. 6. Mahogany 
writing-desk, elaborately finished and bound in brass. 7. Many 
pieces of silver-plate, forks, and spoons, bearing crests and initials 
of the owners. 8. Parts of watches. 9. Knives and very many 
other things which you, Mr. Grinnell, and others interested in the 
fate of the Franklin Expedition will take a sad interest in inspect- 
ing on their arrival in the States. One entire skeleton I have 
brought to the United States. 1 

" The same year that the Erebus and Terror were abandoned one 
of them consummated the Great Northwest Passage, having five 



IWv,,, 



of Brooklyn, who transferred them to Admi 
England. Subsequently (by the plug of a tooth) the skel 

, London, for At.; 



344 Hall's Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

men aboard. The evidence of the exact number is circumstantial. 
Everything about this Northwest Passage ship was in complete 
order. It was found by the Ook-joo-lik natives near O'Reilly 
Island, lat. 68° 30' N., long. 99 W., early in the spring of 1849, 
frozen in the midst of a floe of only one winter's formation." 

This vessel was sunk by the Innuits in getting wood out. The 
other vessel is reported by the Esquimaux to have been crushed 
by heavy ice in the spring of 1848, while the crew were engaged 
in getting out provisions. Capt. Crozier and another man, perhaps 
Surgeon Macdonald, appears to have survived their comrades and 
are reported to have been heard of by the natives near Chester- 
field Inlet. There are some indications that a portion at least of 
the party after trying to go down the west side of King William's 
Land had turned back, doubled Cape Felix, and had passed down 
the eastern coast. Between Port Parry and Cape Sabine on that 
coast See-pung-er, an Innuit, reports finding a monument within 
which he found a tin cup containing manuscript which was thrown 
away as useless. " He said further that he and his uncle had spent 
one night near this monument, wrapping themselves up in blankets 
taken from a pile of white men's clothing found there, and that a 
kob-lu-na's (white man's) skeleton lay by the pile." " Hall appears 
to have been impressed with the great probability that all of Frank- 
lin's party had not continued on the hopeless route to Back's 
river." Prof. Nourse quotes Dr. Rae in confirmation of this 
opinion. This well-known Arctic explorer suggests that Fury 
beach where an immense stock of provisions still remained at the 
place where the Fury was wrecked was much more accessible 
than any of the Hudson's Bay Company's settlements. 

But it seems very questionable whether the result would have 
been any the less disastrous had this course been adopted, feasible 
as it appears, for the rapidity with which the greater portion of 
the party succumbed to the hardships of the journey indicates 
great feebleness of health or great scarcity of food. That the 
latter was indeed the case we have every reason to believe, yet, 
why it should have been, with one vessel still afloat and afterwards 
found by the natives in complete order, and well supplied with all 
kinds of food (see page 404) is one of the many unsolved enigmas 
connected with the fate of the Franklin expedition. Capt. Hall 
thought he could account for as many as seventy-nine of the party, 
but for this belief he has to rely upon the very vague statement of 
the Innuits. 



Llfi A,Tl C T I c 




Circumpolar Map No. II (Geographical Discoveries made since 1818 in Red 



i88o.] HaWs Second Arctic Expedition. 345 

That a large number of books and manuscripts still remain 
buried in the snow on King William's Land and also records 
more carefully deposited may exist is at least highly probable, and 
it is very much to be hoped that the expedition now out under 
Lieut. Schwatka 1 has been able, as he hoped, to explore this 
island during the past summer. The monument and cache near 
Cape Crozier, however interesting and remarkable, are certainly 
of much less importance, and we are glad to learn that the time 
will not be lost in visiting them as first proposed. Although the 
accounts of the presence of white men in the north-western por- 
tion of the Melville peninsula are not to be overlooked, corrobo- 
rated as they are by the existence of this monument and tenting 
place, it seems hardily possible that any members of the lost ex- 
pedition should have gone in this direction ; so far out of the way 
of help and necessitating the crossing of the Boothia gulf- 
more especially when the existence of the supplies at Fury beach 
must have been known by them. 

Although geographical inquiry was not the first object of Hall's 
journey, he made many interesting discoveries which are clearly 
shown on his maps, several of which accompanying the text are 
of much interest and value. There are also eight sketches of coast 
lines drawn by the Innuits. The preliminary chapter is illustrated 
by circumpolar and other maps showing the progress of discovery 
since 18 18, Franklin's track, etc. 2 A large circumpolar pocket 
map with explorers names and very satisfactorily mounted in 
sections is also given. It is brought down to the present time, 
showing the results of Nordenskiold's discoveries and corrections 
of the Asiatic coast. The wood engravings are numerous and 
many of great interest. The appendix contains Hall's Astronom- 
ical and Meteorological observations, his conversations with the 
Innuits, and also a valuable paper by B. K. Emerson, Professor of 
Geology, at Amherst College, on the Geology of Frobisher bay 
and Field bay, as illustrated by the collections made by Capt. 
Hall in 1860-2 and now in the College Museum. Prof. Emerson 
states that " the common crystalline rocks of the Arctic regions, 
granitic and gneissose, made up the bulk of the collection." 
" With these were traps, red massive quartzites, sandstones, gray 
*See Naturalist, August, 1878, p. 571, and November, 1S79, p. 723. 



34 6 Hall's Second Arctic Expedition. [May, 

and cream-colored dolomites and limestones, and a few pieces of 
black cherty and dark fissile limestones, which furnished so many 
fossils new in these regions, and coming from a horizon which 
had not before been known to be represented so far north — that 
of the Utica slate." * * * " The geological collections made by 




mm 



north of Rupert's Land, witli the single exception of the fossils 
collected by Capt. McClintock and described by Houghton." 
These latter were brought from North Devon, Bellots straits and 



i88o.J HaWs Second Arctic Expedition. 347 

King William's Land and a comparison with the fossils from 
Frobisher's bay, shows that that locality bears " somewhat the 
same relation to those of King William's Land and North Devon, 
which the typical localities of the Utica slate and the Hudson 
River group in New York bear to the more western areas of the 
Mississippi Basin." " In Frobisher bay we have a group of fos- 
sils unmixed with those of earlier or later date, which mark the 
exact horizon of the Utica slate, and the rocks have a lithological 
facies recalling that of the typical localities of this epoch in New 
York." " In the north-western area the whole Paleozoic series 
seem to be represented by a nearly unbroken succession of lime- 
stones, and the subdivisions merge into each other as in the 
central basin of the United States." " So that Houghton says, 
' the whole of North Somerset, Boothia Felix, King William's 
Land and Prince of Wales Land is thus proved to be of Silurian 
age, although the evidence as to whether it is Upper or Lower 
Silurian is contradictory, as characteristic fossils of both epochs 
are found throughout the whole area.' " And the fossils from the 
Bay of Frobisher show that this great Arctic limestone area ex- 
tends greatly to the south-east, and make it comparable in size 
with the central basin of the United States. 

An interesting " note " by Hall on the finding of stones, rocks, 
and sands on the floe ice is given. He believes that these are 
< ght up by the ice from the bottom of shallow waters and not 
deposited upon its surface. 

" As the spring-tides come on, during their ebb, in many shallow 
parts of Hudson's bay, sheets of ice rest upon rocks, stones, shells, 
and weeds. These sheets of ice as they lie, send down showers 
upon the already moist bottom, all of which conglaciate at once 
into a solid mass by the piercing, pinching cold of the north. 
Hocks and stones, shells and weed, sheets of ice, and what was 
trickling water become one solid body. The tide now floods and 
lifts the floe, having on its nether surface a ponderous load of 
earthy matter. Before another ebb, King Cold has succeeded in 
adding several inches of ice underneath the structure of rocks, 
stones, land, shells, and weeds, which are now completely envel- 
oped in crystal. Ebb and flood succeed each other, and as often 
add a stone or other foreign matter, and then another stratum of 
ice to the Hoe or smaller nieces of ice that during certain intervals 
are afloat or aground." 

A paper on " Whale and Seal Oil in the manufacture of Jute," 
concludes a work which is a very valuable addition to the numer- 
ous narratives of Arctic discovery. Ellis Hornor Yarnall. 



348 Sketch of North American Anthropology in i8?p. [May, 

SKETCH OF NORTH AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY 
IN 1879. 



ANTHROPOLOGY is that science which has for its object- 
matter the human race, and has reference: 1. To the origin 
of man considered zoologically, geologically, geographically and 
chronologically, and to his pristine mental and social condition ; 2. 
To humanity as a whole compared with other similar groups 
of the animal kingdom, and with itself in different environments, 
and in various stages of culture; 3. To the natural division of the 

This science is related, more or less intimately, with every other 
department of human knowledge ; so much so that he who would 
know a great deal about this one subject, must needs know a little 
about everything. 

Between anthropology and many ancillary sciences it is not 
very difficult to draw the line, if we keep in view the fact that it 
is always comparative, or gathering materials for comparison. The 
physician studies the structure and functions of the human body, 
not to compare but to heal. The historian regards the actions of 
men, so does the anthropologist; but the former pays most atten- 
tion to the conduct of individuals, or the voluntary and incidental 
conduct of masses; while the latter scrutinizes those actions that 
are tribal, inherited ; not so much what a people did, as what they 
did habitually; not so much what they are doing, as what they are 
accustomed to do. 

As the bounds of knowledge widen and the relations existing 
between the soul of man and his material environment become 
better understood, many of those phenomena which are looked 
upon by the historian and the biologist as erratic, will be found 
working in obedience to physical and spiritual laws. 

With this preliminary thought in our minds to guide and 
restrain us, let us take a glance at the field of anthropological 
research in our own continent during the year 1879. It will be 
necessary to include in this review works on American anthro- 
pology by foreigners as well as by our own scholars, and also 
those by American writers upon the subject in general, as well as 
upon topics outside of North America. 1 



l88o] Sketch of North American Anthropology in iSyg. 349 

Anthropogeny. — As before indicated, the origin of man com- 
bines many subsidiary questions. Is he, or is he not, derived by 
descent from some ancestral species whose very remains as yet 
are hiding from us in tertiary strata? In what geological epoch 
must we search for his earliest occurrence ? or, to what horizon 
do the earliest traces of him already discovered belong ? At 
what precise spot on the earth did our race originate, granting 
that there was but one such locality ? If there were more than 
one, the problem becomes the more complex indeed, but that 
does not relieve us of the responsibility of attempting its solu- 
tion. How many centuries, or millenniums, or eons ago was this 
most interesting event? What was the bodily form and propor- 
tion, and what was the mental and moral status of that pristine 
individual or brood ? The answers to all these questions may be 
divided into three classes, the brachychronic, the dolicochronic, 
and the agnostic, as the works bearing the following titles will 



Cook, Joseph.— Heredity, with preludes on current events. Houghton & Osgood, 
Dk Quatrefages, A.— The human species. Translated from the French and form- 
man. D. Appleton & Co. (By far the most learned treatise on anthropogeny 
published during the year. A summary of its contents, prepared by Lester F. 
Ward, of Wash <■ .1 resume of the work.) 

Maclean, J. P._Manual of the Antiquity of Man. Robert Clarke & Co., Cin. 
Mudge, B. F.— Another view of the antiquity of man. Kansas Cy. Rev., Aug. 
Ward, Lester F.— Haeckel's genesis of man. E. Stern & Co., Philad. 
Wilson, Daniel.— Some American illustrations of the evolution of new varieties 
of man. J. Anthrop. Inst., May. 
The ethnical influence of physical geography. Am. Assoc, at Saratoga. 

Archeology. — The province of archaeology joins hard upon that 
of anthropogeny, if it does not overlap it in places. The latter, 
however, is concerned with the pristine or original facts of 
humanity, while the former regards the priscan condition of the 
various human groups. However long ago man is claimed to 



ropological science m " st send a copy of t 



! U..o ri 



350 Sketch of North American Anthropology in 1879. [May, 

have lived in North America, none of the relics thus far discov- 
ered are supposed to belong to the origin of the race. It is a 
fact, however, that a far greater antiquity is demanded for our race 
than was supposed to belong to it a few years ago. The follow- 
ing contributions were all made during 1879: 



Abbott, C. C— Pliocene ma 


n. Kansas Cy. Rev. 


, Nov. 






Barber, E. i 

No. 1. 
Examinatic 


^.—Antiquity o 


f the tobacco pipe h 


1 Europe. . 


Am. Antiquari 


•an, II, 


in of Indian gra 


tves in Chester count) 


r, Penna. A 


<m. Naturalist, 


May. 


Native Am 


erican architecture. Am. Antiquari, 


an, II, No. I 






BlNKLEY, S. 


H. — Prehistoric 


manufacturing villag 


e in the Mia. 


mi valley. Am, 


Anti 














Broadhead, 


G. C— The walled lakes of Iowa. 


Kansas Cy. 






Clarke, H. 


B.— Shell beds of Clatsop beach. A 


>,:. Antiqwir 


ian, 1, No. 4. 




Colorado, An 


cient remains in. Builder, July 26. 








Conant, A. _ 


r. — Footprints 


f vanished races. C. 


R, Barns, Si 


t. Louis. 




De Hart, J 


. N.— The emt 


.lematic mounds of 


Wisconsin. 


Am. Antiquat 


■ian, 1, 


No. 4. 












Elliott, E. 


T.— The age of 


cave-dwellers in Arr 


.erica. Pop, 




ng- 


Farquharso 


N, R. J— The 


Rockford and Dave: 




. Am. Antiqu 





Force, M. F.— Some early notices of the Indians < 
Frey, L. S.— Were they Mound-builders? Am. A 

Hartt, Ch. Fred.— Notes on the manufactory of p 

Hoffman, W. J.— Turtle-back celts in the District 

Feb. 
Holmes, Wm. H.— Notes on an extensive deposit 

mers of 1875 and 1876. Hay den 

paper did not appear until 1879.) 
Jackson, Rev. S.— The ancient cities, of Cibola. Rocky Mt. News, Jan. 
Jewitt, L.— Pottery in prehistoric times. III. Art Journal, Nov. 
Kansas, Prehistoric mounds in. Kansas Cy. Rev., Jan. 
Low, C. A. — Appendix to Short's North Americans of Antiquity. 
Lykths, \V. IT. R. — Stone-age in Kansas. Kansas Cy. Rev., Oct. 
MACLEAN, J. P.— The Mound-builders. R. Clarke & Co., Cin. 
Mason, G. C.-The old stone mill at Newport. Mag. Am. Hist., Sept. 
Mastodon, The home of the. Kansas Cy. Rev., Sept. 
Morse, E. S.— Traces of early man in Japan. D. Appleton. (We me 

:. 



i88o.] Sketch of Xorth . hncncan Anthropology in i8jg. 



Smithson. Cont. to Knowlea 


fc*. 33 l - 




, Mag. Am. Hist., April. 


Read, M. C.—The inscribed stc 




Stone'tubes, used in smoking 


tobacco. Am. Antiquarian, II, No. 


Redding, B. B.— How our anct 




Naturalist, Nov. 




Reynolds, Elmer R.— Aborigi 


rial soapstone quarries in the Distri 


Rep. Peabody Museum, XII. 






unds. Louisville Mag., Jan. 


Short, John T.— The North A 


mericans of Antiquity. Harper & E 


Skertchly, S. B. J.— Cliff-dwel 


lien in the far west. Century, July : 


Slafter, Rev. E. F— Prehistoi 


ic copper implements. N. E. Hist. 


ister, Jan. 





Waddell, J. A. — The failures and fallacies of prehistoric archaeology. So. Pres- 
Woolley, Chas. F.— Sand- fields and shell-heaps. Am. Antiquarian, I. 4. 

In closing this section, the writer would enter a mild and 
friendly protest against the careless and ruthless manner in which 
our antiquities are being destroyed. Upon those wealthy gentle- 
men whose tastes have led them to make aboriginal relics a 
matter of merchandise must certainly rest the responsibility of 
having them procured by the most competent hands, and all the 
circumstances and surroundings of the find accurately recorded. 

Somatology. — Whatever may be our opinion respecting the 
materiality of the mind, no one denies that man resembles all 
other living creatures in the method of his generation, in embry- 
onic development, in the periods of growth, maturity, and decay, 
in amenability to his material environment, in disease and he- 
redity, and, briefly, in all those structural and functional charac- 
teristics which go to make up his animal nature. It is also true 



352 Sketch of North American Anthropology in 1879. [May, 

that groups of men possess anatomical and physiological pecu- 
liarities which distinguish them as races or varieties, which seem 
to link them with animal groups not far below them, and which 
indicate an increase in refinement of organism coincident with the 
progress of civilization. A better knowledge of somatic charac- 
teristics has also enabled the anthropologists to call upon the 
witness stand other portions of the organism than the cranium. 
That American works in this field fall far behind those of Europe 
upon the same subject, any one may convince himself who will 
compare the following list with a fuller one in Baird's forthcoming 
Annual Report for 1879: 

Burnett, Swan M.— A systematic method for the education of the color sense in 

children. Central Dispensary, Washington, D. C. 
Hoffman, W. J.— The Chaco cranium. Government printing office, Washington. 



Lathrop, W. H. — Consanguineous 


marriages. Boston Med. and Surg. J. p. 8 3 7- 


LeConte, J.— Scientific relation of s 


;ociology to biology. Pop. Sci. Month., Jan. and 


Feb. 




Parker, A. J.— Simian characters i 


in negro brains. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 


P. 339- 




Patrick, John J. R.— Dental fallac 


ies. Rumbold. St. Louis. 


WRIGHT, J. S.— Some measurement; 


; of the heads of males and females. Arch, of 



Comparative Psychology. — Upon this more recent field of anthro- 
pological investigation, few of our American scholars have en- 
tered. Among my notes I find only the following two references : 
Psychological Science.— American anthropology. St. Louis Eclec. Med. Jo. 



-Is conscience primitive ? Pop. Sc. Month., March. 

Ethnography. — The words ethnography and ethnology have 
gone the rounds of the anthropological vocabulary. It is not 
designed here to limit their application any more than to apply 
ethnography to descriptive works upon extant races, leaving 
ethnology to cover the whole subject of the anthropology of 
races included in our third division. The following works relate 
to North American races or were written by Americans : 

American Indians, Notes and queries on the. Missionary Rev., Sept. 
BALDWIN, C. C— Early Indian migrations in Ohio. Am. Antiquarian, I, No. 4. 
Bickmork, Albert S.— The ethnology of the Islands of the Indian and Pacific 

Oceans. 111. Am. Assoc, at Saratoga. 
Campbell, John— On the origin of some American tribes. Canadian Naturalist, 



1880.] Sketch of North American Anthropology in 1879. 353 

Clint, Wm.— The Aborigines of Canada under the British Crown. Trans. Lit. and 

Hist. Soc, Quebec. 
O .FFINBURY, W. L.— An exhibition of Indian character. Am. Antiquarian, I, No. 4. 
Dawson, George M.— The past and present condition of the Indians of Canada. 

Force, M. F.— Some early notices of the Indians of Ohio. Clarke. Cin. 

Iroquois and Delaware Indians, Notes on the. Penna. Mag. of Hist., VIII. 

T.K' hkvai.i.ier, A.— Les Indiens Seminoles. Naturalistc Canadien, Aug. 

Meeker, N. C— The Utes of Colorado. Am. Antiquarian, 1, No. 4. 

Natchez and Yuchi, Notes on the. Am. Antiquarian, II, No. 1. 

Parkman, F.— La Salle and the discovery of the Great West. Little and Brown, 

Although no volume has yet been published, Major Powell 
succeeded, upon the breaking up of his survey, in getting an 
appropriation for founding a Bureau of Ethnology, under the 
auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. A corps of the most 
competent workers are now engaged in making an exhaustive 
study of North American Ethnography. 

Comparative Philology. — It is now the fashion to place language 
among the physical sciences. The students of this department 
of anthropology are a class by themselves, however, and we find 
it convenient to give the references to philological publications 
separately. 

Rev. Linguistique, July. 

Bell, Alex. Graham.—VowcI Theories. Am. J. of Otology, July. 

Bi.ake, C. J._The logographic value of consonant sounds in relation to their trans- 
mission by the telephone. Am. J. of Otology, July. 

Bruhl, G.—On the etymology of the word chichimecatl. Am. Antiquarian, II, 1. 

Farquharson, J. A.— The phonetic elements in American languages. Am. Anti- 



Localbenennungen aus dem Berner-Oberlande und dem Oberwallis. Arch. d. 

kistor. Ver. d. Kantons Bern. 1879. 
Volk und Sprache der Maklaks in sudwestlichen Oregon. Globus, Braunschweig. 

Nos. ir, 12. 
Farberbenennungen in nordamerikanischen Sprachen. Ztschr.f Ethnologie, Ber- 

Adjectives of color in seven Indian languages. Am. Naturalist, pp. 475-4^5- 
On syllabic reduplication as observed in Indian languages, and in the Klamath 

language of South-western Oregon in particular. Proc. 1 1 ith Session Am. Phil. 

Soc -> 35-37- 
Mythologic text in the Klamath language of southern Oregon. Am. Antique in:. 



aya-Spanish Dictionary, reviewed in tl 



Sketch of North American Anthropology in 1879. [ Ma y> 



Mallery, Garrick.— The Sign-language of the North American Indians. Am. 

Perez, Don Juan Pio— Diccionario de la Lengua Maya. 

Sibley, Dr. — Caddoquis, or Caddo Language. Am. Naturalist, Dec. 

Williston, S. W.— Indian pictographs in Western Kansas. ICs City Rev.. May. 

Arts and Industries. — Regarding the human race as a whole, 
for the time being, there are certain occupations of daily life, as 
well as means of gratification, which have had a history similar 
to that of an individual or of the race itself. We may ignore, if 
we please, the question of time and race, and follow the unfolding 
of this industry or pastime through all the stages of its growth. 
It is this study of comparative industry in all times and lands 
which lends such a charm to the writings of Mr. E. B. Tylor. 
In the whole range of anthropological study there is no question 
more puzzling than that which arises respecting the occurrence 
of the same art or industry in widely separated areas. On this 
subject I have collected the following titles : 



Tylor, E. B. 

Sociology. — Under the head of Sociology are included the 
works of such authors as Morgan and Wilson in our own coun- 
try, and abroad such names as Lubbock, Tylor, McLennan, 
Wake, Sir Henry Maine, and towering above all, Herbert Spen- 
cer. There is no civilized country where so many distinct races 
of men enter into one social compact as in our own. In addition 
to the conglomeration of Europeans, we have the African, the 
Mongolian, and the Aborigines, becoming hybridized in myriad 
combinations. To reduce this chaos to order and to learn the 
social lessons which it teaches is a work worthy of our ablest 
minds. During the past year the following publications have 
appeared : 

Ainslee, J. G.— Marriage customs. Potter's Am. Monthly, Sept., Oct. 
B. E. — The Indian as a coming citizen. Lippincotfs Mag., Jan. 
Burial Customs. Am. Antiquarian, Sept. 
Farrer, J. A. — Primitive manners and customs. Henry Holt. 



i88o.] Sketch of North Oology in i8yg. 



Rembaugh, Dr. A. C— Our present race deterioration. Penn Month., Ap. 
Williams, A. M. — A grand council at Okm : .'/ s '-, Sept. 

Religion. — There is no branch of anthropology where the "per- 
sonal equation " is more complex and potent than in the treat- 
ment of religion. At the American Association Major Powell 
took as his theme, Savage Philosophy, adopting the views of 
Peschel that " In all stages of civilization, and among all races of 
mankind, religious emotions are always aroused by the same 
inward impulse, the necessity of discerning a cause or an author 
for every phenomenon or event." In addition to this view, 
which may be termed " comparative theology," there is compara- 
tive cult, including the organization of the people into clergy and 
laity, the places of worship with all their paraphernalia, the ritual, 
and religious observances. Now in the study of these phenom- 
ena each investigator is influenced by a theological or an anti- 
theological bias, which vitiates his testimony and deductions to 
a certain extent. Comparing our own country with the cul- 
tured nations of Europe, however, I think we may justly feel 
proud that so little bitterness and vituperation accompanies the 
discussion of this vexed theme: I give a few titles of publica- 
tions which have come under my notice : 

Eklls, M._The religion of the Clallam and Twana Indians. Am. Antiquarian, II, I. 

Farrkr, J. A.— Fairy Lore of Savages. Pop. Sc. Month., Sup., Feb. 

Gatschet, A. S.— Mythologic text in the Klamath language. Am. Antiquarian, 

Henderson, J. G.— Superstitions relative to the owl. Am. Assoc, Saratoga. 
Superstitions relative to thunder. Am. Assoc, Saratoga. 

Peet, Stephen D.— Traces of Bible facts in the traditions of all nations. Am. Anti- 
quarian, Jan. 

Powell, J. W.— Mythologic Philosophy. Pop. Sc. Month., Nov., Dec Am. Assoc, 
Saratoga. Vice-President's Address. 

Spencer, Herbert— The Data of Ethics. D. Appleton & Co. [This work of the 
distinguished author is mentioned in our list because of the great number of re- 
views of it which have appeared both in religious and secular journals.] 

Thompson, E. H.— Atlantis not a myth. Pop. Sc. Month., Oct. 

Instrumentalities of Research. — The question is frequently asked, 
Where can I look for information upon the results of anthropo- 
logical research ? The increasing number of intelligent persons 
interested in such topics makes it necessary to answer the ques- 
tion. On the whole, the best reply the writer can give is to 



35 6 Editors' Table. [May, 

mention the sources from which he has derived his own informa- 
tion. And, firstly, there is no Society in our country which pub- 
lishes a journal similar to the Journal of the Anthropological 
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland ; Bulletins de la Societe 
d'Anthropologie, de Paris ; Revue d'Anthropologie, in the same 
city; Materiaux pour l'histoire de l'homme, Toulouse; Archiv 
fur Anthropologic, Braunschweig ; Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, 
Berlin. Authors of works on this subject find a means of pub- 
lication in the Smithsonian Institution, the Peabody Museum, 
Powell's Bureau of Ethnology, the Proceedings of Local So- 
cieties, the Government Surveys, and the scientific and literary 
periodicals. The American Antiquarian, published by the Rev. 
S. D. Peet, of Ohio, is a praiseworthy attempt to afford 
anthropologists a common ground upon which they may meet. 
Owing to this desultory manner of publication many valuable 
papers would be lost sight of if some index to them were not 
preserved. In the Index to Periodical Literature of the Ameri- 
can Bookseller, the section of anthropology in Index Medicus, 
published in Washington, and the anthropological summary of the 
American Naturalist, nearly every contribution of importance 
finds mention by title at least. Mr. S. H. Scudder, of Boston, 
has published, at great pains, a list of all the learned societies of 
the world. Sabin and Son's Dictionary of books relating to 
America has reached Part lxviii. 



EDITORS' TABLE. 



In our February number we drew attention to the then 

recent action of a majority of the Philadelphia Academy in refer- 
ence to the policy of its management. We have since received 
the last number of the Proceedings for 1879, covering the months 
of November and December; also those for 1880 for the month 
of January. The former includes two hundred and fourteen 
pages of scientific matter, and fifty-eight pages of reports, an 
excellent showing for the Proceedings as a medium of publication. 
An inspection of the sources of this matter, however, reveals the 
fact that only three pages of it are the product of resident mem- 
bers of the Academy, or of those who have a voter's share in its 



1 88o.] Editors' Tabic. 357 

conduct. Of the eighty-eight pages issued in 1880, only two 
pages are from resident students, and one of these is occupied by 
matter already published elsewhere, for which no credit is given. 
We have referred to this view of the Academy's work on previous 
occasions, not with a view of disparaging its usefulness, but for 
the purpose of enforcing our assertion that its present organiza- 
tion is not calculated to foster native talent nor develop original 
research at home. And this with unrivaled facilities within easy 
reach, both in the form of men and means. We have ascribed 
this failure to the unwillingness of the Academy (1) to create col- 
lections for study ; and to create or give positions of any degree of 
permanency to either (2) experts or (3) students; three points, it is 
easily perceived, absolutely essential to the accomplishment of work. 
We now add some new evidence of the correctness of these state- 

We quote the following from a newspaper report of an address 
delivered by Dr. J. L. LeConte at the recent centennial dinner of 
the American Philosophical Society: 

" If time permitted I would be glad to mention to you what I 
conceive to be the proper functions of scientific societies, and the 
claims they have upon popular sympathy and assistance. They 
are, in a strict sense, neither oral teachers nor custodians ; but, to 
use the phraseology of Smithson, so happily interpreted and 
applied by our venerable (in its true sense) associate, Prof. Henry, 
' institutions for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
men.' I could show by many examples how, by departing from 
this simple path of duty, the resources of societies have been 
crippled and their usefulness paralyzed by indulging in the fas- 
cinating luxuries of large museums and ornate architecture. The 
former should be under the protection of governmental assistance, 
or in the care of largely-endowed institutions of learning. Vol- 
untary contributions and unpaid labor can never support a museum 
which is rapidly growing ; nor do such collections fulfill their 
functions except as appendages of universities. They soon 
degenerate into imperfectly classified storehouses of curiosities, 
occasionally visited by students desiring to verify types which 
have been imperfectly described. Though an investigator can be 
assisted, I have rarely known one made by the influence of a 
large museum. The material is too vast for the use of a beginner, 
the true life of scientific societies resides in the zeal of the mem- 
bers, the completeness of the library and the facilities afforded for 
publication. The objects for study lie everywhere around us and 
>n us ; and, as Prof. Agassiz told me many years ago, the most 
familiar objects, and those most frequently scrutinized, will give 
the most important results." 

We doubt whether the views above expressed will be satisfac- 
tory even to those members of the Academy who approve the 
Present management ; although if the Academy publish princi- 



358 Editors' Table. [May, 

pally for other institutions, it would seem appropriate that its 
members should also make collections for other institutions. That 
the president does not object to this form of suicide, may be 
derived from the following, 1 which is said to be from his pen: 

" If A and B choose to bestow their treasures in Boston or 
elsewhere, and C prefers that the National Museum at Washing- 
ton shall have his, the common cause of scientific progress is not 
injured, nor is the Academy any better or worse on account of 
such disposition. The value of scientific discovery is not contin- 
gent upon the locality where it may be made, or on the style or 
title of the discoverer. Every man is free to dispose of his own 
property as he may judge to be satisfactory to himself." 

We doubt whether any other city of the civilized world pre- 
sents such noble examples of self-abnegation as is implied in the 
above extracts. How far their fellow-citizens will be willing to 
share these crowns of self-immolation remains to be seen. Al- 
though a few may be found to console themselves with the pious 
reflection that " our loss is their gain," we doubt whether a general 
hosanna will arise on a distribution of important collections to 
other localities, excepting from the recipients. 

The first speaker is pointed in his assertion as to the fate of a 
museum supported by voluntary labor, etc.: " They soon degen- 
erate into imperfectly classified storehouses, etc." Has not the 
kind of labor and supervision something to do with this " degen- 
eration ?" Under incompetent hands nothing else can be ex- 
pected. Prof. Agassiz says the most important results may be 
derived from the study of objects " around us and in us." For 
the entomologist this statement has an especial truth, but Prof. 
Agassiz took good care to make a great collection in zoology, 
palaeontology and geology from all parts of the world. The posi- 
tion that an academy of sciences should not have a museum if 
it can, is absurd. As well try to run a mill without grist, or 
printing without type. That Philadelphia is not able or willing 
to have a museum, devoted first to the interests of original 
research, and second, for exhibition to the public, is, to say the 
least, highly improbable. This, of course, does not include "or- 
nate architecture," which is not part of a museum, and which 
Prof. Henry very justly condemned. The Academy has indeed 
expended money in architecture, while its vitals have been unsup- 
')!:• d with food. 

In further confirmation of our statements regarding the unsuit- 
able nature of appointments to positions, we refer to the report of 
the Proceedings of the Academy at the end of this number of 
the Naturalist. We add to this the further feci that one of the 
most able of our rising naturalists has been relieved of the schol- 
arship which was endowed by the late A. E. Jessup, and which 
paid a small salary, without the offer of an equivalent place. 

1 Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Dec. 30, 1879. 



Editors Tabic. 



359 



This is objectionable in view of the fact that a single unscientific 
person (of course an officer of the Academy) draws two of the 
three salaries available for special students, and spends his leisure 
in advancing his pecuniary interests in other directions. We have 
here another discrimination against the specialist, besides the 
many we have cited in previous articles. 

Some insight into the etiology of this pathological condition 
may be derived from a perusal of the report of the president near 
the close of the volume of Proceedings for 1879, referred to at 
the opening of this article. The leading officer of the academy 
states that " original research was not the sole object of the society." 
" No part of the museum or library can be held in reserve for the 
exclusive use of any class of specialists." Here again we per- 
ceive a remarkable obliviousness to the fact that original research 
requires the " exclusive use " of material so long as the research 
may last. So long as this is not permitted, the " free access to the 
museum," of which the writer speaks, is a farce. And to the 
prevalence of this and of the views previously cited, is due the 
small amount of original work apparent in the publications of the 

^ In Nature for March 18, the editor, in a brief notice of 

Prof, J. J. Stevenson's preliminary Report of the geology of por- 
tions of Colorado and New Mexico, in Capt. Wheeler's Annual 
Report for 1879, makes the following pertinent remarks, which 
are in accord with the views of this journal: "While referring 
to American official geological publication, we would point out 
the absolute necessity of reference to previous explorers. We 
could pick out not a few otherwise excellent reports, which are 

new names are given to formations which had already been named 
and described. If the original names and descriptions are defec- 
that be stated, but in common fairness to 



borers, not to speak of 


' dut 


y to the r 


,-ading 


public, let us 


km>w distinctly whether we at 








nt of ground 


that has never been describe.! 






2 are merely 


: :w rendering of the 


ts a 


1 ready fan 


liliar tc 


> us. When 


of ge .logical exol 


u-ati. 


on in Colorado 


comes to be 


v.'ntten how m.inv different ant 










enumerated, and 'in how mam 








od that they 


have recognized each other's e 


xisk 


nee?" 






We learn that Mr. Pier 


re L 


.orillard, c 


»f New 


York, is pre- 


paring to defray the expenses 


of a 


n expior;; 


ttion of 


tbe ruins of 


Mexico and Central America. 


Ti 






;ate that the 


plan involves the transfer of t 


he 1 


















l »e name of the Musee'l'... 


rilia 


rd. We 


hone tl 


Kit this may 


not be true. If Mr. Lorillard s 


u-ta 


ins thee X, 




"theexplora- 



360 Recent Literature. [May, 

tion, he should require that the objects obtained shall be placed 
in some of the museums of New York or Washington. The 
educational interests of our country require all the aid that collec- 
tions and museums can give, and future generations will doubtless 
be increasingly awake to their importance, and will hold in high 
esteem those who create or sustain them. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 

The Annual Report of the Hayden Survey for 1877. 1 — 
This is another permanently valuable contribution to the geologi- 
cal literature of the Western United States. The unusually fine 
and numerous illustrations accompanying it, add much to its 
value. Part 1, geology and palaeontology, comprises over 600 
pages, illustrated by seventy-six admirably executed maps and 
sections, and ten plates illustrating invertebrate fossils. 

This part is chiefly made up of reports bv the chiefs of divis- 
ions and districts, of which there are five. " Dr. Endlich, in his 
Report on the Geology of the Sweetwater district, seems to have 
given special attention to the mineral resources and economic 
geology of that region, and it is illustrated by six admirably exe- 
cuted geological sections of the country traversed. Dr. White's 
Report on the Cretaceous fossils, illustrated by ten magnificent 
plates, needs no comment, as the author's well-known reputation 
is a sufficient guarantee of the quality of the work. Orestes St. 
John has had charge of the work of the Teton division, which 
seems to have been very thoroughly done, being illustrated by 
thirty-nine maps and sections of the region traversed by his party. 
The Green River division, in charge of Dr. A. C. Peale has done 
good work, care being taken to give proper credit to those who 
had previously worked in the same field ; twenty-nine maps and 
sections, together with analytical and ordinary landscape views, 
illustrate Dr. Peak's Report on the Green River country. 

Part 11 relates to the topographical work carried on by A. D. 
Wilson and Henry Gannett, topographers of the survey, by whom 
the work of triangulation seems to have been conducted with 
great care. Altogether, the volume before us is a good example 
of the high degree of skill attained by Dr. Hayden and his assis- 
tants, not only in carrying on their field work on a large scale, 
but also in presenting its results in graphic and readily available 
form for the use of the reading public. 

Recent Books and Pamphlets.— Palaeontographica. Band xxvi, Heft 3- 
Beiuage zur Kentniss der fossilen Fische der Karpathen, Von Dragutin Kramber- 



1 Eleventh Annual Report of the United States Ge.ilop 
vey of the Terri: and Wyoming, 1 

of' the Kxpl. .ration tor the- year [S77. By F. V. Hayde 



Recent Literature. 361 

, Provinz 



;tt, N. H. 


By J. H. Huntington. 


8vo. pp. 


ZSS-2U2. 


sat. Hist. . 


kx. 1879.) From the i 


mthor. 




Lts. By I 


[arrison Allen, M.D. 8vo. pp. 2 




Feb. 1880 


. From the author. 






iticity of Pebbles in Conglomerates 


. By M. E. Wads- 



*orth, Ph.D. 8vo. pp. 313-318. (Ext. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. His 

The Young Scientist. Vgl. I, No. 9. New York, Sept. 1878. From the pub- 

^ Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin, for the year 1879. By T. 
. Chief Geologist. 8vo. pp. 72. Madison, Wis. 1880. From the 

Proceedings of the Poughkeepsie Society of Natural Sciences. From Oct. 1st., 
:878 to July 1st, 1879. 8vo. pp. 72. From the society. 

Etude sur les Poissons et les Reptiles des Terrains Cretaces et Jurassiques 
Yonne. Par M. H-E. Sauvage. 8vo. pp. 20-84, pi vm. (Ext. 
3ull. Soc. des Sc. hist, et nat. de 1'Yonne 3 ser, t. I.) From the author. 

Materiaux pour l'His 
:icule. De l'existence < 
>ls. iv. Paris, 1880. I 

Physics and Politic; an application of the principles of natural selection and 
leredity to political society. By Walter Bagehot. (No. 3 of Vol. 1 of Humboldt 
library of Popular Science Literature ) [. Fitzgerald & Co., New York. 1880. 

On the Fertilization of Yucca. By Thomas Meehan. 8vo. pp.4. (Repr. No. 
V.m. Entomologist.) From the author. 

Proceedings of the Royal ( i. tof Geography. 

*os. 2 and 3, Vol. 11, 1880. From the society. 

On a new Genus and Species of Harpacticida. By P. O. Christopher Aurivilhu . 
»vo. pp . 16, p ls. in. (Ext. K. Svenska Vet. Akad. Handlingar. Bd. 5, No. 18.) 



- 



Reglement de la Societe Zoologique de France. Fondee < 



1876. 8vo. pp. 14. Paris, 

cai Commission. Bulletin No. 3. The Cotton Worm. 

-: 
Uias. V. Riley, M.A., Ph.D. 8vo. pp. 144, pi. I. Washington, Government Print- 
ing Office. 1880. 

United States Entomological Commission. Bulletin No. 5. The Chinch-bug. 

1 habits, and th< 



injuries. By Cyrus Thomas, Ph.D. Washington, 1879 (issued 1880). 8°, pp. 44- 
<Iemoires de la Societe Royale des Sciences de Ltege. 8vo. Tomes vn et vin 



i the society, 
^ine journal of the Franklin Institute. No. 650, Vol.'cix. 1880. From the it 

Eine neue Gattung von Scincoiden, aus New-Caledonien. By W. Peters. (' 
*> communication on S,n<n^n?!r:i<. Extr. from Sitzb. der Gesell. naturforschei 
reunde zu Berlin. 16 Dec. 1879.) 8vo. pp. 149-159- F rom the author. 

Uber die Eintheilung de Ccecilien unci insbesondere Uber die Gattung Rhinatr 
ndGymnopis. By W. Peters. Sv, PP . (-.24-043, P l. '• (Extr. from Monats 

• KSmgl. Akad. .].'.. . Xov. 1879.) From the author. 
A new species of Ophrvdium 1 O. ,i,/,eK Bv Hermann C. Evarts, M.D. 8vo. 

• (Repr. Am. Monthly Microscop. Journ. Vol. 1, No. I.) From the author. 



362 General Notes. [May, 

. Uber neue Amphibien des Konigl. Zoologischen Museums (Eitprepes, Acontias, 
Typhlops, Zamenis, Spilotes, (Edipus.) By W. Peters. 8vo. pp. 773-779. pi. 1. 
(Extr. Monatsb. d. Konigl. Akad. d. Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Aug. 1879.) From 

Uber die Amphisbsenen und eine zu denselben gehorige neue Art. (Lepidosternon 
Wuchereri.) By W. Peters. 8vo. pp. 273-277, pi. 1. (Extr. Monatsb. de KSnigl. 
Akad. d. Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Marz, 1879. From the author. 

Uber die von Hrn. Dr. G. A. Fischer in Ost afrika, von Mombas bis in das PokSmo- 
Land und das sudliche Galla Land, unternommenen Reise eingesammchen Stage- 
thiere. By W. Peters. 8vo. pp. 829-832. (Extr. Monatsb. d. Konigl. Akad. d. 
Wiss. zu Berlin, Oct. 1879.) From the author. 



Recherches sur le Developpement des Araignees. (Cor 
Par le Dr. J. Barrois. 8vo. pp. 529-547, pi. I. (Extr. de Journ. de l'Anat. et de 
Physiologic) Paris. From the author. 

Sur quelques especes nouvelles au pea connues du terrain cretace du Nord de la 
France. Par Charles Barrois. 8vo. pp. 449-457, pis. in. (Extr. des Ann. de la 
Soc. Geol. du Nord. T. iv. 1876.) From the author. 

Silex. Par Dr. Chas. Barrois. 8vo. pp. 34 . de la Soc. Geol. 

du Nord. T. VI, 1879.) From the author. 

Le Marbre griotte des Pyrenees. Par le Dr. Charles Barrois. 8vo. pp. 270-300. 
(Extr. des Ann. de la Soc. Geol. du Nord. Tom. VI, 1879.) From the author. 

Catalogue of the Pacific Coast Fungi. (Published under the direction of the 
California Academy of Sciences.) By H. W. Harkness, M.D., and Justin P. Moore, 
A.M. 8vo. pp. 46. From the author. 

Prodrome des Plesiosauriens et des Elasmosauriens des Formation ! 



Superieures de Boulogne- 
(Extr. from Ant.. .1- S.;e: 



GENERAL NOTES. 

BOTANY. 
Fertilization of Flowers by Humming-Birds.— Prof. Beale's 
note under the above title in the Naturalist for February in- 
duces me to send the following observations, made in Alabama 
in 1879, which may be of some interest. The ruby throat was 
often seen to get nectar from both sets of glands at the base of 
the involucre about cotton flowers ; it was constantly seen at the 
flowers of the low CEnothera sinuata; very often about those of 
the May-pop {Passiflora incamata), the white flowered buck-eye 
{AZsculus parvifiord), tr?e wild and cultivated morning-glories, the 
yellow dayTily, the white oleander, several sorts of Pelargonium, 
the lemon, fuchsia, larkspur, malvaviscus, zinnia, " sage-bush, 
and " osier willow." One night just about twilight one was seen 
at the flowers of the gourd ; and I several times saw them about 
the flowers of Lobelia cardinalis, where they usually acted much 
like the one spoken of in the Naturalist for 1879, p. 431, though 
the flowers were by no means always visited regularly from the 
bottom of the raceme up. The flowers of E>ythri?ia herbacea 
were often visited by these birds, and appear to be adapted to 



i88o.] Botany. 363 

fertilization by them, like the "palosabre" {Erythrina, sp.) de- 
scribed by Belt. 1 The malvaviscus mentioned above does not 
fruit in the North where I have seen it cultivated, and experi- 
ments made a few years ago on a plant in Brooklyn showed that, 
in that case at least, artificial crossing between different flowers on 
the same plant did not lead to the production of fruit. Whether 
this is always the case with the plant as cultivated in the North 
I do not know, but it fruits abundantly in Southern Alabama, 
where it is perfectly hardy ; and yet I could not learn that there 
was a plant within several miles of the one on which my observa- 
tions were made, so that the crossing effected by the birds was 
probably between flowers of one plant. This difference may be 
due to the difference in climate. 

The species which have been mentioned are all that are record- 
ed in my notes, though birds were seen to visit many others, and 
a planter laughingly said to me one day, " You'll have to note 
every conspicuous flower if you want a full list of those visited 
by humming birds," reminding me of what Delpino says in his 
Ulteriori Osservazioni, P. 11, Fas. 11, p. 336, "According to Gould, 
to number all of the flowers frequented by this species would be 
equivalent to repeating the name of half the plants of North 
America."— William Trelease. 

Carnivorous Habits of Bees. — Apropos of the asserted kill- 
ing and eating, by hive bees, of moths captured by the bladder- 
flower, Physianthus, I would like to call the attention of readers 
of the Naturalist to the following statement by Kirby and 
Spence in their Introduction to Entomology, Letter xx. p. 384 of 
the seventh edition : " Though the great mass of the food of 
bees is collected from flowers, they do not wholly confine them- 
selves to a vegetable diet ; for, besides the honeyed secretion of 
the Aphides, the possession of which they will sometimes dispute 
with the ants, 2 upon particular occasions they will eat the eggs of 
the queen. They are very fond also of the fluid that oozes from 
the cells of the pupae, and will suck eagerly all that is fluid in 
their abdomen after they are destroyed by their rivals." 3 — Wm. 
Trelease. 

m Fungi as Insect Destroyers. — Two very interesting observa- 
tions, bearing on one of the methods taken by nature to prevent an 
over-production of insects injurious to vegetation, are recorded in 
the introductory portion to the Thirty-first Report of the New 
York State Museum of Natural History: One of these is in re- 
gard to the destruction, by a fungus, of the " seventeen-year 
locust," which, it will be remembered, made one of its septem- 
decennial visitations in 1877. This fungus, vvhich Mr. Peck de- 
Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 130. 

J Abbe Boisier, quoted in Mill's on Bees, 24. 

1 Schirach, 45. Huber, 1, 47 9- 



364 General Notes. L Ma y» 

scribes as belonging to a genus and species new to science, and 
which he names Massospora cycadina, develops in the abdomen of 
the insect, and consists almost wholly of a mass of pale yellowish 
or clay colored spores, having the appearance to the naked eye of 
a lump of whitish clay. Though the insect is not killed at once 
by the parasite, it is manifestly incapacitated for propagation, and 
thence the fungus may be said to prevent, to some extent, the 
injury that would otherwise be inflicted upon trees by the deposi- 
tion of the Cicada's eggs. While in the Adirondack region, Mr. 
Peck noticed the fact that the larvae of some unknown insect, 
existing in countless numbers, and feeding upon the leaves of the 
alder, were fast threatening the destruction of this plant. Look- 
ing beneath the bushes for the pupae of the insect in order to ob- 
tain a clue to the latter's identity, he was surprised to find that 
the larvae, in every instance, had been killed by a parasitic fungus 
before they had had time to undergo their transformation ; and 
he believes that by this provision of nature the alders of the above- 
mentioned region have been saved from utter destruction, inas- 
much as in another year they would have been completely de- 
foliated by the larvae had but half of those which he observed 
been allowed to come to maturity. — Bulletin of the Torrey Botan- 
ical Club. 

Twining Plants. — In the last number of The American Natu- 
ralist I notice a short article in reference to "the direction of the 
twining of plants." I have given the subject some attention, and 
my observations show that the direction is sometimes variable. I 
know a large vine of Celustrus scandens that branches fifteen feet 
from the ground, one branch of which turns to the right, the other 
to the left, so that for over twenty feet they cross each other every 
four feet, and in two places are self-grafted together, each plant 
or branch bearing flower and fruit. — jjf. C. Andras. 

The Germ Disease Theory.— A contribution to this subject 
has been made by Koch, who finds that certain species of Bacteria, 
the lowest forms of plant life, occur in certain forms of disease in 
certain species of animals, and that such animals inoculated with 
such Bacteria suffer from these diseases. Koch's method has 
been to inoculate mice or rabbits with decomposing animal mat- 
ter, to notice what symptoms, if any, were the result of the 
operation, and to examine the tissues of the infected animal for 
the particular form of microphyte contained in the injected fluid. 
By injecting putrid blood or infusion of meat and thus artificially 
producing septicaemia in mice, the animals died in a few hours, 
but it was found that the Bacteria originally injected were still 
confined to the cellular tissue under the skin, and that they had 
not propagated themselves. It was also found that healthy ani- 
mals inoculated with the blood of the dead animal were not m- 
j ured by it. Here, then, the disease was evidently due not to living 



i88o.] Botany. 365 

plants, but to a soluble poison — septin or sepsin — existing with 
the Bacteria in the putrid fluid. But other symptoms set in in 
about one-third of the cases, and it was found that one-tenth of a 
drop of blood from any part of an infected animal was able to 
communicate the disease to another. Thus Koch carried the 
disease through seventeen successive animals, the second being 
infected from the first, and so on through the entire series. An 
examination of the blood of any of these mice revealed multitudes 
of minute Bacillus-like Bacteria, of definite size and form, and 
evidently the contagium of this particular form of traumatic 
septicaemia, a disease peculiar to house mice. Beside the charac- 
teristic Bacteria, occasionally a Micrococcus-form was observed, 
which multiplied with great rapidity, forming characteristic chains 
in the subcutaneous tissue; the septicaemia-Bacillus at the same 
time living and increasing in the blood. When injected into a 
mouse's ear these micrococci produced a perfectly distinctive dis- 
ease, i. e., necrosis of the tissues of the ear, which were penetrated 
through and through, and completely destroyed by the rapid 
multiplication of the micrococcus plants. This and experiments 
on rabbits and other mice showed that infection was produced by 
infinitesimal as well as by large doses; the Bacterium-forms for 
each disease seemed thoroughly characteristic, the plants differ- 
ing in size, mode of occurrence, &c, the presence of these micro- 
phytes being an indispensable requisite in the development of 
these symptoms. On the other hand, Dr. T. R. Lewis claims 
that one of the chief arguments against the germ disease theory, 
is the fact that a septiferous fluid retains its virulence after being 
boiled, filtered, evaporated, or combined with acids in the form of 
salts, but it is argued that this is not opposed to the action of a 
specific poison produced by the microphytes by a process of fer- 
mentation in the decomposing fluid. 

Botanical News. — We glean from the Journal of the Royal 
Microscopical Society for February, the following notes : — The 
germination of the maize-rust {Ustilago maydii), which occurs in 
moist air in from twenty-four to fortv-eight hours, has been ob- 
served by A. Renner. The vine mildew or false Oidium which 

makes its appearance from time to time in vineyards in the United 
States, has been detected in France on stocks imported from this 
country. This mildew is frequently confounded with the true 
Oidium, but is allied to the potato disease, being caused by a 
nearly allied fungus {Pcronospora viticola). A new form of Ba- 
cillus has been found in the liver of a badger. The spores of 

a number of species of Bacterium, Vibrio, Spirochete, and especi- 
ally Leuconostoc have recently been discovered by Van Tieghem. 

While Chiene and Ewart have stated that neither bacteria 

nor their germs exist in the healthy organs of animals, Nencki and 
Giacosa have ascertained by very careful experiments that they do 



366 General Notes. [May, 

occur in healthy animals. The cause of the movements of 

bacteria has been studied by Van Tieghem; while the ultimate 
cause is the contractility of the protoplasm, he thinks it is imme- 
diately due to the prolongation in places of filiform structures, to 
which he gives the name of appendages. These, he thinks, he 
has demonstrated to be the cause rather than vibratile cilia pro- 
truding through the cell wall. A series of mycological prepa- 
rations for the microscope of great value in the study of minute 
fungi have been made for sale by Dr. Zimmermann, of Chemnitz, 

in Saxony, Prussia. The prospectus is issued of a proposed 

Botanisches Ceiitral-blatt, edited by Dr. O. Uhlworm of Leipzig. 
It is to be a weekly publication, consisting of information, reports, 
and abstracts of all papers in the various branches of botanical 
science published in Europe or America, titles of new books, etc. 
(A. IV. B.) The advance of the British troops into Afghanis- 
tan last year has not been without some scientific results. Gene- 
ral Robert's force was accompanied by a naturalist, Dr. Aitcheson, 
who made large collections of plants, principally in the Kurum 
valley. These have been sent home and examined at Kew, and 
point to the interesting fact that in this valley we have a meeting 
point and intermingling of three very distinct floras, those of 
Western Asia, of India, and of Thibet— (A W. B.) 

ZOOLOGY. 1 

Notes on California Fishes. — Salmonidce. — Among the Sal- 
monidae that have occurred in the markets of San Francisco 
during September and October, the hump-back salmon, so-called 
from the prominent hump upon the back in advance of the first 
dorsal fin, has been conspicuous. 

The anadromous salmon of this coast, that is, the salmon 
which ascend rivers to deposit their spawn but go to the sea to 
feed, belong to a different group from the well-known salmon of 
Europe and of the Atlantic coast. This latter ( Salmo salar) is 
more nearly related to our brook trouts than to our salmon. 

On account of the very long hooked jaw possessed by some of 
our Pacific salmon, they were grouped by Dr. Suckley under the 
generic name of Oncorhynchus, and by this name they are still 
known to naturalists. The character mentioned is not, however, 
the one to be relied on to distinguish these salmon, since the 
hooked jaws are only fully developed in the male sex after the 
spawning season ; the females and young having straight jaws. 
This may be at once seen by a glance at the young quinnat (the 
common Californian salmon) now in the market. As they he 
beside the old males with their excessive development of teeth 
and jaws, they seem a different species. The most reliable, 
obvious character, is the number of the anal rays, which in our 

^The departments of Ornithology and Mammalogy are conducted by Dr. Elliott 
Coues, U. S. A. 



Pacific coast salmon is seventeen, as in the European salmon and 

Now there are five species of this coast, and 

of these three are more or less hump-backed. All five are found 
in the Columbia, but they do not all inhabit Californian rivers. 
The common species, the quinnat, is not hump-backed. Onco- 
rhyiichus noka, a somewhat hump-backed species with scales of 
about the same size as those of the quinnat, is on record from 
the rivers of California, but I have not yet detected its presence 
in our markets. This species grows as large as the common sal- 
mon, and is more cylindrical in form. 

The hump-back now in the market is not this species. It has 
very small scales in more than two hundred transverse rows, is 
exceedingly compressed and thin in the body, has an excessively 
developed hump, and, so far as I have observed, does not reach 
the dimensions of the quinnat. These characters, taken together, 
prove that it is the species now known as Oncorhynchus gorbuscha. 

I may here remark that the species of salmon and trout are 
probably more difficult to distinguish than those of any other 
tribe of fishes, partly because of the changes they undergo with 
age, and partly from seasonal and sexual changes. For example, 
the quinnat from the fresh water is light with round dark spots, 
from the sea it is of a bright steely blue. After the spawning 
season, as was previously observed, the lower jaw of the male 
acquires a more decided hook than usual. A careful examination 
of the teeth, of the gill-arches and of the pyloric appendages of 
the stomach has to be made in order to distinguish the species. 

Early observers on this coast, relying on external characters, 
made the species much more numerous than they really are, 
founding their species on differences due to age, sex or season. 
Recently Profs. Gill and Jordan have reviewed the group, and the 
result is that the number of species is greatly reduced. 0. gor- 
buscha includes the gorbuscha of Artedi, 1792, the gibber of Blon, 
1801, and Suckley, 1861, and the proteus of Pallas, 181 1. This 
is par excellence the hump-back salmon, does not attain a large 
size, and is on record as ranging from Washington to Kamt- 
schatka. Its occurrence in our markets proves that in the 
autumn it visits the neighborhood of San Francisco. The dealers 
tell me it is taken in the Sacramento. O. keta, which is on record 
as ranging from Oregon to Kamtschatka, includes four nominal 
species described by various authors (keta, lagocephalus, scouleri, 
and confiuentitsj, while under O. nerka, which is reported to range 
from California to Kamtschatka, are included no less than ten 
nominal species, five of them described by Dr. Suckley. It is 
curious that the commonest species has, except when young, 
always been known by its Indian name of quinnat. 

Notwithstanding the diminution in the apparent number of the 
Pacific coast Salmonidae (taking the word in the sense it was used 



[May, 
still lay claim to 



Salvelinus spectabilis, Gir. Charr or Dolly Varden trout. 
Coregonus tot a white-fish. 

Anadromous Species. 
Oncorhynchus quinnat, common salmon, Quinnat. 
« IT^Ekewa S n! m ° n ' 

" kennerlyi, red salmon. 

Marine Species. 

thalichth ;d silver smelt. 

Hypomenu Silver smelt 

Thalichthys pacificus Gir., Eulachon. 

The first of these ( S. irideus) although here reckoned as a 
fresh-water trout, appears to have acquired the habit, in some 
localities at least, of descending to the ocean in the autumn. 
Considerable quantities of what are called salmon trout are 
brought to market in September, and appear to be nothing more 
or less than Salmo irideus, changed in color by residence in salt 
water. This is, at least, the opinion of the more intelligent 
dealers, and is borne out by the external characters of proportion 
and form of head, body and fins. 

The change of color is of the same kind as that produced in 
the more truly anadromous species, that is, the spots disappear 
in great part and a blue steely tint is spread over the body. S. 
irideus is the common trout of all Californian brooks and rivers. 

The eulachon, previously mentioned, is also known as " candle 
fish," a name which it shares with two other fat fishes of totally 
different families, Anopfopoma fimbria and Ammodytes personatus. 
If the name be finally given to the fittest, the last of these should 
be the true "candle fish," since not only is it fat enough to fur- 
nish the Indians with a ready made candle, but it is of an elongated 
cylindrical form. — W. N. Lockington. 

The English Sparrow in Newark, N. J. — The unusually 
mild weather which prevailed in the vicinity of New York city 
during the months of November and December, had the effect of 
starting the sparrows to housekeeping. About the 20th of the 
latter month I first noticed them carrying building material in the 
city of Newark, N. J., a proceeding which invited closer observa- 
tion and attracted attention to their side-walk courtships, which 
were quite numerous, if not general. 

The sparrows are very abundant in Newark, so much so that 



1 880.] Zoology. 369 

many owners of "brown stone fronts " have put up wire screens 
to keep them from nesting over the windows and doors, and 
many other buildings are rendered unsightly by their droppings. 
Houses are put up for these feathered Arabs, and in Newark, as 
in many other places, the fiction that the sparrow is an insectivor- 
ous bird is cherished, notwithstanding the fact that they can be 
seen seeking their food in the middle of the street, and that their 
short bills indicate a preference for grain. 

Grace church is the best place in the city to study sparrows, its 
splendid ivy-covered sides being rendered unsightly by the straws 
and sticks which protrude from it all the way from ten feet from 
the ground to the eaves, in many places one to each square foot. 
The noise of this colony greatly interferes with the services, so 
much as to make it necessary, as I am informed, to close the win- 
dows in summer; and the walk in front, under the trees, is 
polluted by their droppings, and many dresses have thus been 
ruined. 

Several nests were completed in the ivy on Grace church 
before the 10th of January, when a few days of cold and wet 
weather put a stop to further desire for housekeeping for a few days. 
It was renewed again from the 15th to the 20th, but just how 
far it had advanced by the time of the Christmas snowfall, I can- 
not say, as the nests are difficult of access ; still the fact of their 
building would argue that if the weather had continued mild for 
a week or ten days longer a brood would have been the result. — 
Fred. Mather. 



sity of Berlin, Mr. Wickersheimer. had invented a fluid for pre- 
serving animal as well as vegetable tissues, which was said to 
surpass anything that had ever been used for that purpose. Mr. 
Wickersheimer's laboratory was reported to be the gathering- 
place of all sorts of scientists, who were unanimous in commend- 
ing the extraordinary beauty and elegance of the specimens 
which Mr. Wickersheimer showed them, a number of which had 
been preserved for a considerable space of time. The well-known 
naturalist, Carus Sterne, reported in No. 22 of the " Gartenlaube " 
as follows : 

" Mr. Wickersheimer has two ways of operating with his fluid. 
He either injects it into the veins of the body which is to be pre- 
served, or soaks the whole object or any part of it in the fluid. 
By these methods the bodies are preserved from decomposition, 
and after having been taken out of the fluid and dried, their 
natural colors as well as the elasticity of the tissue and flexibility 
of all the joints are secured. 

" Reporter saw the body of a boy which had died several 
months before, lying free in the open air and having perfectly 



370 General Notes [May, 

preserved the appearance of a sleeping child. The body was of 
a natural softness and had preserved the appearance of life to a 
surprising degree. 

" Mr. Wickersheimer showed a number of skeletons in which 
(the ligaments being preserved in their natural condition and 
elasticity) all the complicated movements could be executed and 
studied, of course much better than by aid of connecting wires 
and artificial joints. Some of the specimens showed beautifully 
the combined movements of the chest, the larynx and other parts 
in breathing. Several skeletons of snakes which had been treat- 
ed with the fluid a year ago, allowed to show the spiral and un- 
dulatory movements of any part of the skeleton. 

" But," the reporter continues, " not only the ligaments but 
also the vessels and membranes of animals will show the same 
indestructible softness and elasticity. The lungs thus prepared 
in connection with the wind-pipe may, even after years, be inflated 
by means of bellows. Such old lungs of several animals reporter 
saw swelling to ten times their size ; the lobes became distinctly 
separate; the brown color gradually changed into red, and at 
length the whole body appeared as if taken from out of a fresh 
body. 

"Also the digestive organs after having been cleaned, prepared 
and blown up, may be transformed into durable preparations 
which are undoubtedly far more instructive than any of those 
common imitations in papier-mache. 

" Further, the fluid offers great advantages for the preserva- 
tion of such delicate objects which have to remain in a liquid 
medium. There is no discoloring, no shrinking of the objects as 
in alcohol (even when diluted). Sections of delicate tissues, mor- 
bid formations which have been removed by an operation, will 
appear after months as if in a fresh condition, and may thus be 
preserved for further study. 

" Finally, all sorts of vegetable organisms, such as flowers, 
fruits, fungi, etc., will excellently preserve in this fluid and are 
sure to maintain their natural appearance for a long time. Re- 
porter saw a colony of those delicate common fresh-water alga: 
which had been in the fluid for a year and had so beautifully pre- 
served their green color that they appeared to grow in the water 
in their natural condition." 

Some time previous to this report, Mr. Wickersheimer had 
offered his invention to the Prussian government for a reasonable 
compensation. The government accepted the offer and appointed 
a committee of experts to examine the fluid and test its qualities 
and effects. The very satisfactory results of these examinations 
have been quite recently published by the State's-Secretary of 
the Department of Instruction in the official " Staatsanzeiger, 



i88o.] Zoology. 371 

together with the following formula for the preparation of the 



After cooling and filtering, add t 
tion, four litres of glycerine and on< 

The " Staatsanzeiger" says : 

" The method of application differs according to the nature of 
the objects that are to be preserved. Anatomical preparations, 
whole bodies, etc., that are to be preserved dry, are laid (accord- 
ing to their size) from six to twelve days into the fluid, then taken 
out and dried in the open air. The ligaments, the muscles, etc., 
will now remain soft and flexible, so that at any time the natural 
movements can be executed. 

" Hollow organs, such as the lungs, bowels, etc., must be filled 
with the preserving fluid, then laid in a vessel containing the 
same fluid and afterwards dried after the fluid has been poured 
out and the objects have been distended with air. 

"Smaller animals, such as crabs, beetles, lizards, frogs, etc., if 
the natural colors are to be preserved unchanged, are not to be 
dried, but put up in the fluid. 

"If human or animal bodies are to be preserved for a longer 
space of time before they are used for scientific purposes, it is 
sufficient to inject the fluid. Two litres, f. i., will suffice for a 
child of two years ; about five litres are required for an adult. 
By this treatment the muscles will appear (even after years, when 
sections are made) as if in a fresh condition. If thus injected 
human bodies are preserved in the open air, they will gradually 
lose their fresh appearance and the epidermis will assume a 
brownish shade. But even this can be avoided if the fluid is ex- 
ternally rubbed into the skin, and if the access of air is prevented 
as far as possible. 

" This latter treatment may be recommended for corpses that 
are to be exhibited to the public or are to be preserved for some 
time before they are buried, for the features will remain unchanged 
in their expression and color, and there will not any smell be 
perceptible. 

" For the real embalming a method of combined injection and 
preservation in the fluid is to be applied. The bodies, after being 
injected, are kept in tight cases, being wrapped in clothes which 
have been saturated with the solution."— W. Barbeck. 

The Spotted Salamander.— Every one who has collected 
water-plants or animals in the marsh-pools or quiet streams of 



372 General Notes, [May, 

the Eastern United States is familiar with the spotted salamander, 
or water newt (Diemyctylus viridescens R.). 

In their adult dress (olive-brown above, yellow beneath, and a 
row of vermilion spots along each side) they can be seen in num- 
bers, from early April till the middle of June, in shallow pools, 
basking on the surface, or floating motionless with the slow cur- 
rent, or walking among the submerged plants. It is the only sala- 
mander I know whose habits are so diurnal that it enjoys the sun- 
shine. I have caught them by the dozen at noon on sunny days. 
In the spring they prefer open pools or streams of slow-moving 
water where there are no trees, but plenty of plants and tufts of 
grass. But later in the year, when the sun becomes torrid, when 
the streams of the marshes are shrunken, and temporary frog 
ponds are nothing but patches of dried and cracked mud, the 
adult spotted salamander is seldom seen. I suppose they are 
hidden among the roots and tufts of grass. At least my speci- 
mens in confinement always get in such places. 

I have kept them in a box filled with earth, grass and moss, in 
which there was always a dish of water standing, but they did not 
care to stay long at a time in the water. Sometimes they would 
not remain in it for weeks, although they walked through it many 
times in crawling around ; and they ate and were as lively as 
when caught. 

In the breeding season, when they spend a greater part, if not 
all the time, in the water, their colors are brighter and the black 
markings are very distinct. The compressed tail has a fin-like 
extension of the integument above and below, which enables them 
to swim with ease. Afterwards the colors become dull and the 
fin is absorbed. In these particulars they resemble what is said 
of the Triton (?) cristatus of Europe. 

The eggs, which I have seen, are glued singly in the axils of 
leaves, or the terminal whorl of finely-divided leaves, or folded 
up in grass blades. Often the leaves are stuck so close to the 
egg that the latter is not visible. Prof. E. D. Cope has noticed 
the eggs of D. viridescens "laid singly on leaves of Myriophyllum 
which adhere to the glutinous egg, concealing it." (Packard's 
Zoology, 1879, p. 479.) My observations differ from those of 
Prof. Verrill and S. J. Smith (American Naturalist, Vol. in. p. 
158), who state that they found "rounded masses, like frogs' eggs, 
on the stems of water plants." The larvae, too, that were hatched 
from the eggs they found had "rather stout bodies and broad 
heads." All the larvae I ever saw of D. viridescens have been 
slender, with narrow heads and pointed noses. They can be dis- 
tinguished at all times from the stout broad-headed larvae of Am- 
blystoma punctatum. I have caught adult specimens in the breed- 
ing season, placed them among plants where there were no eggs. 
They laid eggs in the axils of the plants, and the eggs hatched to 
larval spotted salamanders. In the manner of placing the eggs, 



i88o.] Zoology. 373 

they agree with what Prof. Owen says of the Triton cristatus and L. 
pvnctatus. The eggs are about an eighth of an inch long, ellipti- 
cal, with a tough envelope, and greenish fluid surrounds the yolk 
part. They are laid early in April or May, according to the season. 
The larvae are very timid. I have kept them till they became 
terrestrial and had yellow spots along their olive-green sides, but 
they would not eat, and died in about a week. I am very sorry 
not to have been able to keep any till they reached the red eft 
stage. Their dying so young makes a break in the chain of ob- 
served facts that prove the red eft to be a young form of the 
spotted salamander. 

The red eft {D. miniatus Raf.) was described as a different 
species on account of its color, which is orange-red with vermilion 
spots. Lome still holds that it is a distinct species, or a variety. 
Dr. Hallowell first suggested that they were the same species 
(Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1856), and Prof. Cope has maintained the 
same opinion (Proceed. Phila. Acad., 1859). Mr - H.A.Kelly 
kept some red efts till they became spotted salamanders (Ameri- 
can Naturalist, Vol. xn, p. 399). I have also observed the 
change several times. All the red efts I have seen were small. 
I believe, but am not able to prove at present, that the young 
D. viridescens attains its red garb the summer it is hatched, re- 
mains that color about a year, then gradually becomes duller as 
it attains full size. I have found red efts in dead wood some dis- 
tance from water, but never in the water; I found one November 
1, after two severe frosts, under a loose stone near a marsh. I 
have kept D. viridescens, A. punctatuui and Dcsmognathus fnsca 
alive for more than a year at a time. The first two species be- 
came so tame that they would stretch up their heads, expecting 
to be fed, whenever they heard my voice. I have seen D. viri- 
descens eat tadpoles. They never seem to be able to get enough 
of them. The salamander puts his nose close up to the tadpole 
and remains perfectly still. If the tadpole does not stir, his life 
is saved, for the salamander soon moves off; but if he wriggles 
the least bit he is down the throat of his enemy in an instant. In 
taking bits of meat from a wire, they slowly open the mouth, 
protrude the tongue, and gently pull it off A. punctatum snaps off 
the meat with a quick jerk. 

I have never seen any salamanders use the fore foot as a hand 
in adjusting food in the mouth, or for removing objectionable 
pieces, but I have very often seen my tree toads do so. 

I have frequently seen the D. viridescens shed its skin. They 
are restless before shedding and refuse food, and are weak for 
some time after the skin is removed. After the skin is loosened, 
they press it from the head and front legs by rubbing against 
some projection in the box, presenting different sides during the 
operation. Sometimes they remove the whole skin in this man- 
ner. At other times, after the old skin was removed from the 



374 General Notes. [May, 

arms, I have seen them push it from the rest of the body by 
alternately pressing against the sides with their hand-like front 
feet, in the same way that a person might strip off a tight garment. 
The skinning takes an hour or more, and after the integument is 
off they roll it up and swallow it. 

If kept in a warm room salamanders take food regularly dur- 
ing the winter and seem as lively as in summer. Tree toads kept 
in the same room will not eat. On the approach of cold weather 
they dig their way under sods and remain buried and torpid till 
spring. This would indicate that hybernation is not as settled 
a habit with these two species of salamanders as with the tree 
toads.— S. P. Monks. 

Growth as a Function of Cells. — Dr. Charles Sedgwick 
Minot has published an article in the Proceedings of the Boston 
Society of Natural History on " Growth as a Function of Cells." 
This essay is an attempt to give an exact analysis of the problem 
of growth. The author considers that growth depends upon an 
impulse created at the time when the ovum is impregnated; this 
impulse he terms rejuvenation, because the vital power is made 
young again in a new cycle of cells. The old cycle of cells 
passes away, the parent dies, but a new egg-cell is produced 
endowed with an extraordinary power of division, which causes 
the birth of successive generations of cells. Now usually the 
number of cells is doubled at every division, that being the least 
possible increase, hence the number of cells must increase in 
geometrical progression ; therefore, the growth of every animal 
would be indefinite were there not an opposing influence. This 
opposing influence cannot be the loss of a part of the cells, as 
when part of the skin peels off, for this loss is too slight to coun- 
terbalance the multiplication. The explanation is, that the inter- 
vals between the births of two successive generations of cells 
continually increases, or in other words the frequency of the 
divisions continually diminishes. This Dr. Minot calls the phe- 
nomenon of senescence, to which he attributes the utmost 
importance, as a vital phenomenon common to all animals, yet 
hitherto entirely unstudied. He says . " From our point of view 
this change (in the frequency of division) is the most important 
alteration produced by senescence ; that it really occurs is not 
only a deduction, but is shown by actual observation, for no one 
can question that the division of the cells during segmentation of 
the yolk proceeds at shorter intervals than during adult life; thus 
in an egg say eight or ten, perhaps more, generations of cells 
may be born in the course of a single day, all the cells dividing; 
but we cannot for an instant imagine that all the cells of the 
human adult, for example, divide upon an average even once a day, 
probably * * * * not * * * * even once a year." 
But the size or weight of the whole animal depends not only 



i88o.] Zoology. 375 

upon the number but also on the volume and weight of the cells. 
Dr. Minot therefore discusses the laws which govern the varia- 
tions of the size of cells. The relations of growth to the size of 
animals is next considered, the conclusion being drawn that the 
rapidity of the senescence determines the size of the animal, 
because the more rapidly the frequency of the cell divisions dimin- 
ishes, the sooner will growth cease and the smaller will the ani- 
mal remain, so that in this respect senescence exercises a funda- 
mental influence. This, is, we believe, the only scientific attempt 
to explain the reason why animals are of different sizes. Finally 
by a novel reasoning the conclusion is drawn, that although the 
animal grows in three dimensions, yet the growth of the cells is 
confined to two dimensions of space. For the detailed arguments 
supporting the author's conclusions, the original article must be 
consulted. 

SCOLOPENDRELLA AS THE TYPE OF A NEW ORDER OF ARTICU- 
LATES (Symphyla). — In examining a series of specimens of 
Scolopendrella notacantha Gerv., and a species which I believe to 
differ from 5. immaadata Newp., and which I have called S. 
gratia (both forms collected in the Philadelphia park), I find char- 
acters which appear to warrant the creation of an ordinal division 
for their reception. The new group may be characterized in 
accordance with my observations as follows : 

Head essentially insect:/, rm, or, more specifically, like that of 
Campodea, \v\t\\ mandibles, maxill and apparently a ligula. The 
labrum and labium are well defined, and the former is separated 
from the epicranial pieces by a well-marked suture. Antennae 
14-28 articulate. Body with thirteen segments (exclusive of 
head), to which are appended not more than twelve pairs of five- 
jointed legs, each terminated by a pair of claws, as in insects. At 
the bases of each pair of legs a pair of simple hairy appendages are 
attached, except to the first or postcephalic : these are fully three 
times as large in 6". gratia as in the other species. Caudal stylets 
in a single pair, tapering, unjointed. 

Genital orifice on the ventral side of the body opening on the third 
or fourth body-segment in both sexes. In one sex the opening is a 
simple pore, in the other a longitudinal cleft, closed by means of 
an oblong chitinous piece on either side, the two together occu- 
pying a subquadrate space. Heart, dorsal ; tracheal system repre- 
sented by a series of simple tubular arches, without a sp. al filament, 
■which arise from openings on the ventral surface of the animal, 
inside the bases of the legs, widening and passing upwards to end 
apparently in close relation with the dorsal vessel. Jntestiiu ■ straight, 
with two very long, tortuous malpighian tubules opening into it 
at the posterior third (S. notacantha). 

The genital glands, as well as the nervous system, I have not 
made out with any degree of certainty. The muscles are dis- 



376 General Notes. [May, 

tinctly striated, and the blood corpuscles small. The intestine 
has the portion in front of the rectum dilated; this is especially 
notable in .S. gratice, where this part of the alimentary canal is 
usually filled with the remains of undigested vegetable food. The 
distal, thin, laminar elements of the jaws and maxillae are deeply 
toothed and much resemble those of Campodea, as figured by 
Meinert. 

This form, as interpreted above, becomes of the highest interest 
to the zoologist, and if the writer is not mistaken, the biunguiculate 
legs and their nearly complete correspondence in number with 
the rudimentary abdominal and functional thoracic limbs of the 
Thysanura, especially Machilis and Lcpisma, which also have 
basal appendages to the legs, indicate as much affinity with in- 
sects as with myriapods, and may indeed be looked upon, per- 
haps, as representing the last survival of the form from which 
insects may be supposed to have descended. I name the new 
group Sympky/a, in reference to the singular combination of 
myriapodous, insectean and thysanurous characters which it pre- 
sents.— John A. Ryder. 

Note on a larval Lithobius-like Myriapod. — I recently met 
with a very small specimen of this type of myriapod with seven 
pairs of legs. The claws are simple, as in the adults, the same as 
I have observed in larval specimens of jfidits and Trichopetalmn, 
and in both adult and immature specimens of Eurypaiiropns. The 
mouth parts are a miniature of those of the adult. The specimen 
was nearly an eighth of an inch long. — J. A. R. 

Trichopetalum. — I have found Harger's T. lunatum in great 
abundance in the Philadelphia park, which greatly extends the 
range of this Lysiopetalid myriapod. — J. A. R. 

Dr. Chapman on the Placenta of Elephas. — The birth of an 
elephant at full term (twenty months and twenty days, according 
to the records kept by the keepers at Dr. Chapman's request), in 
Cooper & Bailey's menagerie in this city, afforded a unique 
opportunity to study the mature placenta of these huge animals. 
The placenta proper was found to be zonary, and was believed to 
have encircled the foetal elephant during gestation. The amnion 
and chorion formed two large oblong pouches, one within the 
other, and were fused together equatorially at their narrowest 
diameters, the point where the placental villi were developed 
On either side of the placental zone of villi, the numerous cotyle- 
dons were developed. The placentation was found to be essen- 
tially non-deciduate, and diffuse in character, with a zonary form; 
this combination of characters renders Dr. Chapman's observa- 
tions of great interest and systematic importance. No naturalist 
of recent times has ever had so good an opportunity to study this 
structure; the specimen described by Professor Owen is sup- 



1 880 ] Anthropology. 377 

posed, from its size, to have been immature, whilst the interpre- 
tations, figures, and descriptions of the parts by the older authors 
are necessarily unsatisfactory, owing to their lack of comparative 
knowledge. 

Zoological News. — A new class of marine silicious Rhizopods, 
called by Haeckel Phceodaria, rich in specific forms and remark- 
able in many respects, is described in Nature by this indefatiga- 
ble observer. Over 2000 " species " have been collected by the 
( 'hailenger expedition. The greater number of the species are 

visible to the naked eye The development of Amblystoma punc- 

tattttn is described by Dr. S. Clarke, with excellent figures, in the 
Studies from the biological laboratory of the Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity. Considerable has been done by the Scandinavian 

naturalists concerning the singular Crustacean parasites of the 
sea worms, these Lernsean forms being attached to the bodies 
of the worms. A number of new forms of much interest have 
been described and elegantly figured by Levinsen in the Pro- 
ceedings of the Natural History Society of Copenhagen. 

Hewitson and Moore's Descriptions of New Indian Lepidop- 
terous insects is to appear in parts. For the first part we are 
indebted to Dr. Hayden. A number of forms are related to 
American species, hence this publication is of interest to lepidop- 

terists in America. The death of Dr. Boisduval.the well-known 

lepidopterist, who described so many North American butterflies 
and moths, is recorded. He attained the age of eighty-one years. 
ANTHROPOLOGY. > 
Peabody Museum at Cambridge.— Prof. F. W. Putnam, in three 
communications to the Boston Society of Natural History, dur- 
ing October and December gave an account of the work of the 
Peabody Museum. The first had reference to chambered barrows, 
already mentioned. The second to ancient mounds and burial 
places in Cumberland Valley, Tennessee. Several thousand an- 
cient stone graves have been opened. A walled town on the 
Lindsley estate, twelve acres in extent, enclosed by a bank and 
ditch was described. A mound in the area contained sixty human 
skeletons, each in a carefully made stone grave, the graves being 
arranged in two rows forming four sides of a square, and in three 
layers. About seventy ground plans of ancient houses were 
traced out. Under the floors of hard burnt clay were the graves 
of children, from one to four under each house. The third paper 
treated of the ornamentation of pottery. The author concludes 
from a wide induction that the seemingly useless appendages of 
more refined ceramic ware are survivals of useful parts in a ruder 
age, and that the study of the ornamentation of pottery will fur- 
nish an important clue to the progress of culture. 

'Edned by Prof. Oris T. Mason, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. 



37<S General Notes. [May, 

For about two years Mr. J. Francis Le Baron, Chief Engineer 
of the St. John's and Indian Rivers railroad at Titusville, Florida, 
has been engaged in making a reconnoissance of the archaeologi- 
cal remains in Eastern Florida for the museum. During this 
period he has located on a copy of a government map of Florida, 
published by the War Department, no less than 173 stations, com- 
prising shell-heaps, burial-mounds and fortifications, in a region 
extending about 300 miles south of the mouth of the St. John's, 
and inland along that river and over-land to Lake Okeechobee. 
The majority of the stations are, however, on the St. John's and 
Indian rivers. Taken in connection with Prof. Wyman's account 
of the shell-heaps of the St. John's river, the map and accompany- 
ing report by Mr. Le Baron forms a valuable addition to our 
knowledge of the position and number of the prehistoric sites in 
Florida. Mr. Le Baron has also in his report called attention to 
several groups of tumuli of special interest which should be ex- 
plored in detail if funds can be obtained for the purpose, for they 
are of a different character from the ordinary shell-heaps and 
burial-mounds along the St. John's and the coast. The report 
and map by Mr. Le Baron will prove of considerable interest and 
importance in connection with the arrangement of the large 
amount of material which we have from the shell-heaps of Florida, 
consisting principally of the collections made by the late Prof. 
Wyman, and the proper time for its publication will be when the 
collections in that department of the museum shall be placed on 
exhibition. 

The Department of Anthropology of the British Associa- 
tion, held in Sheffield, 1879.— The Report of this Association 
is a model in punctuality and preparation. The following is a 
correct list of papers. 



<k. IIviiK.-Oa the Yarra and the 
those of the Mozambique and Portu 






Farrer, J. A. — On savage and civilized warfare. 

KEANE, A. H. — On the relations of the Indo-Chinese and Inter-Oceanic ra< 

Knowles, \V. J.— On flint implements in the Valley of the Bann. 

On some curious leathern and wooden objects from Tullyreagh bog, 

Lav,. ANDREW.— On the origin of Feiichi>m. 



Anthropology. 



Rene, Dr.— On the discovery of animal mounds in the Pyrenees. 

Pinto, De Serpa — On the native races of the head-waters of the Zambesi, 
dfication of the physical conditi 



Sydney B. T.— 1 thic man during 

- ' in East Anglia. 






On the survival of the neolithic period at Brandon, Suffolk. 
Tuke, D. Hack.— On the Cagots. 

Tylor, E. Burnett, Chairman.— The presidential address. 
Tylor, A.— On certain inventions illustrating the working of the human mind. 

Archaeology in Indiana. — The volume containing the eighth, 
ninth and tenth annual reports of the geological survey of Indi- 
ana during 1876-77-78, by Prof. E. T. Cox, devotes the space 
from page 121 to page 153 to antiquities. In the first chapter 
descriptions and surveys of new works and mounds are given 
accompanied by accurate maps. The second chapter is an ad- 
dress by Mr. Cox before the State Archaeological Association of 
Indiana, which closes with this most excellent sentence, " Let us, 
therefore, attend strictly to detailing facts of observation, and they 
are sure to lead to a correct solution of all problems within the 
compass of the human mind." 

Anthropological News. — Tenth general meeting of the Ger- 
man Anthropological Society, at Strassburg, on the nth, 12th and 
13th of August, 1879. in Cor.-Bl. d. Deutsch. Gesellsch. f. Anthrop., 
etc. Nos. 9, 10 and 1 1. The papers and discussions reported are of 
great importance locally, but few of them were of general interest. 
Mr. E. Von Troltsch presented a prehistoric chart of Southern 
Germany and Switzerland, which is a marvel of patience and skill 
in the use of graphic signs and colors. 

The second part of the twelfth volume of Archiv fur Anthro- 
pologie, 1879, contains the following communications : 

Der Steisshaarwirbel (vertex coccygeus), die Steissheinglaze (glabella cowygea). 




^Wanker's « Piahis- 



380 General Notes. [May, 

Prof. Ecker, the author of the first article, published in Globus, 
1878, xxxiii, 177, a paper upon abnormal hairiness in men, espe- 
cially with reference to the so-called hairy men. The present paper 
is a continuation and extension of those studies in thoroughness, 
although a great restriction of the area of observation. While the 
author was endeavoring to ascertain the significance of distribution 
of hair over the fcetus in general, and of the tridiosis sacralis in par- 
ticular, his attention was arrested not only by the hair-whorl near 
the coccyx, but also by the bald place (glabella), and the dimple 
(foveola coccygea). The author, after making these discoveries 
independently, found that others also had mentioned the dimple and 
the hair-whorl, while the glabella had not been noticed at all, and 
the connection of all these characteristics into a single study was 
entirely original with him. The design of the paper is to describe 
the phenomena separately, to ascertain their mutual relationships, 
and to arrive, if possible, at their origin and meaning. 

The Bureau of Ethnology at Washington, designing in the 
future to publish a large work upon the gesture speech of mankind, 
has issued a preliminary quarto fasciculus of seventy-two pages 
prepared by Col. Garrick Mallery, and entitled, " Introduction to 
the study of the sign language among the North American 
Indians as ilk ire speech of mankind." The final 

publication will be a collection of all signs, symbols and facial 
expressions used in conveying thought, by deaf-mutes and by 
tribes beyond North America, as well as by our own aborigines. 

The writer dwells first upon the practical value of the sign 
language both in communication with living tribes and for the 
interpretation of native picture writing, "the sole form of aborig- 
inal records, the impress upon bark, skins, or rocks of the evanes- 
cent air picture which in pigment or carving preserve their skele- 
ton outline." The next chapter treats of the origin and extent of 
gesture speech, holding that the latter preceded articulate language 
in importance, which remained rudimentary long after gesture 
had become an art. The preponderance of authority is to the 
effect that man, when in possession of all his faculties, did not 
make a deliberate choice between voice and gesture, both being 
originally instinctive, as both are now; and there never was a 
time when one was used to the exclusion of the other. With the 
voice he at first imitated the few sounds of nature, while 
with gesture he exhibited actions, motions, positions, forms, 
dimensions, directions, distances, and their derivatives. It is 
enough to admit that the connection between them was so early 
and intimate that the gestures, in the wide sense of presenting 
ideas under physical forms, had a formative effect upon many 
words ; that they exhibit the earliest condition of the human 
mind ; are traced from the remotest antiquity among all peoples 
possessing records, and are universally prevalent in the savage 
stage of social evolution. Col. Mallery next proceeds to demol- 



1 8 So. Anthropology. 381 

ish the oft-repeated story that there are tribes that cannot con- 
verse in the dark, alleging in response that individuals of those 
American tribes especially instanced, often in their domestic 
abandon, wrap themselves in robes or blankets with only breath- 
ing holes before the nose, and chatter away for hours. The com- 
mon belief in an universal sign language shares the same fate at 
the hand of the author. In numerous instances there is an entire 
discrepancy between the signs made by different bodies of Indians 
to express the same idea. The pages of authorities, 16-18, are 
given in corroboration of the author's view. Then follows a 
series of variant signs, diverse both in conception and execution, 
with further illustrations, including speeches and stories in signs, 
with advice to collectors, accompanied with drawings to guide 
them in recording their observations. 

We have called attention previously to the American Art Re- 
view, edited by Messrs. S. R. Koehler, Wm. C. Prime and Charles 
C. Perkins, and published monthy, in Boston, by Pistes & 
Lauriat. As a medium of communication between students of 
the fine arts, it does not come within the pale of our notice ; but 
the editors, taking the view that art is a factor in civilization, have 
engaged the most distinguished specialists, including Mr. Ban- 
croft and Prof. Putnam to contribute an illustrated paper to each 
number upon American aboriginal art in its ancient and modern 
phases. In this view the journal commends itself to the archaeol- 
ogists of our country as eminently worthy of their support. 

The following titles of works and treatises may draw attention 
to something of interest to our readers. They are compiled 
chiefly from The American Bookseller and Index Medicus: 

ntr i879T M S o k skva > V i879 ka ' ^ *° ^ ^^^ Exp ° SlU ° n at Mo8C °* ™ 
Aryas, Discussion surl'origine des. Bull. Soc. Anthro\ de Paris, 1S79, II, 344.443- 



em Catalog der Samn 



382 General Notes. [May, 

Dubnidon, P. — Le Culte des Morts et les Cimetieres. Rev. Occidental, Jan. 



Bull. Soc. d'Anthr, 



;>ffroy, J. — La connais: 



, H. — Nuove notizie sui popoli negroidi degli Asia e sp 

Girard, J.— Migrations Africaines. Bull. d. 1. Soc. Geographie, Oct. 
Gomme, G. L.— Folk-lore and the Folk-lore Society. Antiquary, Jm 

Paris, 1879. 
Kotelmann, L.— Die Augen von 9 Laplandern, 3 Patagoniern, 13 ti 
neger vom weissen Nil. Berlin Klein Wchnschr., 1879, XVI. 

sexes. [E> • ricl \,\ th< Soc. <V Vnthrop 

the first prize.] Gaz. d'hdp. Paris, 1879, lii. 

a des hommes celebres. Compt. rend. Acad. d. Sc. Paris, 1879 
Marriage Proposals, Curious. Chambers' Joun., Jan. 
Meeh, K.— Oberfiachenmessungen des menschlichen Korpers. Zi 

MUnchen, 1879, xv. 
Modegliani, L. — Di alcune linee faciali trasverse nel cranio di varie 

per PAntrop. Forenze, 1879, ix. 
Montague, C— About Kissing. Potter's Am. Month., Feb. 



un reino aparte dentro del orden de la creacion ? 

celona, 1879. III. 
Rice, L.— The Ganga Kings. Madras J. of Literatttre, 1. 

ROTH, E.— Beitrage zur Erblichkeitsfrage. Berlin Klin. Wchnschr. 1879, XVI. 
Sabin. Joseph— A Dictionary of Books relating to America. Parts 60-70. Joseph 

Sabin and Sons, New York. 
Scholer— Ueber die Stellung der Ophthalmologic zur Anthropologic Arch./. 

Stage, G. G.— Weight in the first year. Copenhagen, 1879. 



Weisgerber, Hei 

West, E. P.— A buried race in Kansas. Kansas City Rev., Jan. 

WIENER, C— Gran-Chimu et la ville de Cuzco. Bull. d. I. Soc. de Geog., Oct. 

Woinarski, S. E. A. Z.— Some statistics of the length and weight of children born 

GEOLOGY AND PALAEONTOLOGY. 

A New Genus of Tapiroids.— In 1873 I obtained the anterior 
part of the skeleton of a tapiroid mammal from the Eocene beds 
of the Washakie basin in south-western Wyoming. Having re- 
cently had occasion to examine the specimen, on removing the 
matrix I was surprised to find that it only possessed three digits 



1 88a] Geology and Paleontology. 383 

in the anterior foot, the fourth (fifth) being represented by a 
rudimental metacarpal. It thus differs from Hyrachyus, and allied 
genera of the Eocene, and places itself in direct association with 
the three-toed forms of the Lower Miocene. The dentition is how- 
ever that of Hyrachyus. The premolars differ from the true mo- 
lars in form, and the transverse crests of the latter are uninterrupted. 
There is a diastema, in which it differs from {Helaletes) Tapimlns. 
(See Scott, Osborn and Spier on this genus.) The inferior molars 
are like those of the rhinoceroses. The ulna and radius are dis- 
tinct. I call this genus thus characterized, Triplopus, and the 
species T. cubitalis, with the following description : 

The interorbital region of the skull is wide and flat, and the 
sagittal crest is low. The muzzle is rather short, and the anterior 
border of the orbit marks about the middle of the first true molar. 
The posterior external crescent of the superior true molars is 
without bounding or dr. the median ridge of the 

anterior crescent is very strong. The same is true of the confluent 
crescents of the premolars. The crests of the inferior true molars 
have strong ridges descending anteriorly from their outer extrem- 
ities. The fore-limb, especially the cubitus, is rather slender. 
Length of superior molar series, m. .055; of true molars, .030; of 
superior diastema, .012; interorbital width, .049 ; length of hu- 
merus, .hi; of radius, .143 ; of median metacarpus, .066 ; of me- 
dian digit, .028. The species was about the size of a fox. The 
form has a good claim to be regarded as the type ancestral to 
Hyracodon.~E. D. Cope. 

The Structure of the Permian Ganocephala.— Examina- 
tion of abundant material shows the correctness of my anticipa- 
tion (this Journal 1878, 633), that the vertebrae of the large ba- 
trachian Eryops, would turn out to have the structure found in 
Rkackitomus. This genuS then must be referred to the same sub- 
order as Trimcrorhachis, and probably . h -ti/nxl'ii Gaudry, which 
will be characterized by the segmented vertebral centra. If 
European authors are correct in stating that the vertebrae of the 
LahyrinthodanHa have undivided centra, the sub-order above 
mentioned, must probably retain the name of Ganocephala, with 
additional characters. 

The identification of the scapular arch in Eryops, and of the 
pelvic arch in Eryops and Cricotus, gives the following results: 
The glenoid cavity is an excavation in two coossified elements, of 
which the inferior and posterior is probably coracoid. The latter 
•s then much smaller than in Rcptilia and' Hatrachia auura, but 
resembles that of the salamanders. The scapular arch proper, re- 
sembles that of the Urodela. The pelvis is intermediate between 
that of the anurous and urodelous Hatrachia. There is no obtu- 
rator foramen, and the common symphysis is deep. The humerus 
closely resembles that of tin- /"«■.'■■. ><a>/ria. differing chiefly in the 
non-enclosure of the supracondylar foramen. 



384 General Notes. [May. 

The resemblance of the scapular and pelvic arches of the Pely- 
cosauria 1 to those of the Batrachia above described, is remarka- 
ble. In Dimetrodon and Clepsydrops, the principal difference to 
be observed in the pelvis, is the much stronger attachment of the 
ilium to the sacrum. In the scapular arch the principal pecu- 
liarity in the coossified portions, is the posterior double emargi- 

period there was a much closer approximation between the Ba- 
trachian, Reptilian and Mammalian types than at any later period. 
—E. D. Cope. 

Buthotrephis from York County, Pa. — Prof. Frazer has re- 
cently obtained specimens of Buthot ephu t\ 1 << s 1 from the Peach 
Bottom Slate quarries, near the Susquehanna river. The slate of 
this region, according to Prof. Frazer, is bounded, both above and 
below, by chlorites of great thickness, which have been heretofore 
regarded as lying much below the palaeozoic rocks. As the 
'■':■' m is characteristic of the Hudson river epoch 
at the summit of the Lower Silurian, this discovery disturbs views 
previously held, and opens up new questions in the stratigraphy 
of the region. 

The Comstock Lode. — The scientific history of the Comstock 
has had three periods of development. First came in 1865, Von 
Richthofen, who had carefully studied the eruptive rocks of 
Transylvania, and was able to settle, once for all, the grand 
features of Washoe geology. He showed that the country rock 
of the Comstock was made up of four principal members, which 
are : diorite, at the base ; propylite, overlying it ; andesite, dis- 
posed in dikes through the mass of both these rocks ; and finally 
trachyte, which seems to have no immediate connection with the 
diorite, but lies entirely in and upon the propylite. These four 
rocks were laid down in the order named. To this mass of in- 
formation Mr. Clarence King, in 1870, added not only a careful 
discussion of the shape and occurrence of ore-bodies, but also the 
grand fact, not perceived before, that the lode lies upon one of the 
dikes of andesite. For the rest, it was supposed that the diorite 
had been injected as a dome into a mass of sedimentary strata, 
the remnants of which are still observable, and that it already 
formed a mountain peak before propylite, the succeeding rock, ap- 
peared. When the latter did come, it poured in irregular floods, 
covering the diorite mountain nearly or quite to its summit. The 
andesite was thought to have been injected into cracks broken 
through this vast mass of propylite; while the trachyte was looked 
upon as the real lode- maker. 

The convulsions which attended its appearance were supposed 
to have opened a great crevice into which poured the waters from 
which the ore was deposited. 
1 See this Journal, 1878, p. 829. 



i88o.] Geography and Travels. 385 

Prof. John A. Church has recently written a book on " The 
Formation and History of the Comstock Lode." His account 
of Comstock geology differs essentially from this. He concurs 
with his predecessors in regard to the position and order of the 
rocks and the presence of a dike under the lode ; but he gives to 
the rocks and to the lode itself a different history. He finds that 
the diorite and propylite are both stratified, and their strata are 
approximately conformable. 

They were laid down in the horizontal position, and have been 
elevated into a mountain range by the ordinary operation of 
pressure and folding. The dikes of andesite have not broken 
through cracks opened across the other rocks, but are bedded, in- 
terposed between the strata of diorite and propylite. The open- 
ings between these strata were not originally so thick as the quartz 
seams now are. At first they were the merest partings between 
two layers of the propylite; and in accounting for the develop- 
ment of these insignificant crevices to ore-bodies two and three 
hundred feet thick, Mr. Church advances one of the most impor- 
tant observations of his book. 

He takes the bold ground that the Comstock is not a true fissure 
vein ; but that it has been formed by the process of substituting 
quartz for the propylite in certain localities, which were prepared 
for the process in a way described by him. 

The lode lies on one' of the andesite dikes, and the metal-bear- 
ing water rose up the face of this dike, and penetrated the propyl- 
ite strata whenever they had been opened. 

This water was siliceous, and attacked the propylite rock, dis- 
solving it and depositing silica in its place. Each layer of pro- 
pylite was attacked on two sides, until finally the whole layer was 
removed, and the two seams of quartz met. The layers of pro- 
pylite are of all thicknesses, from a few feet up to many yards, and 
when a number of them were involved in the process of substitu- 
tion, some would be completely removed, when others were only 
half dissolved away. If the process of substitution stopped at 
this stage, the result would be a mass of quartz inclosing streaks 
and layers of propylite, just as the structure is found to exist at 
the edges of the quartz bodies. — Engineering and Mining Journal. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS. 1 
Asia. — Col. Prejevalsky having passed through Bulun-tochoi, 
up the Urungu river, crossed the southern Altai mountains to 
Barkul, arriving at Hami about May 30, 1879. Hami is at the 
extremity of the sandy steppe described as the Mouschoun Gobi ; 
>t is a desert almost destitute of vegetation with great tracts of 
clay covered with gravel. While the temperature of the air was 
as high as 38 C, the soil had sometimes a temperature of 68° 
C The only animals of large size seen were the antelope and 
w «ld camel. Prejevalsky crossed this desert in a south-eastern 
1 Edited by Ellis II. Yaknall, Philadelphia. 



386 General Notes. TMay, 

direction for 232 miles to the oasis of Sha-chau — about E. long. 
94 , lat. 39 01 — reaching there on the 20th of June. He states 
that the desert attains at one point an elevation of 5000 feet, but 
that the Sha-chau oasis, which he describes as very fertile, is only 
3500 feet above the sea. Southwards there runs a range covered 
with perpetual snow, and evidently to be identified with the Altyn- 
tagh of his former journey to Lob-Nor. It is here joined by 
the Nian-Shan of Koko-Nor. This portion of Mongolia being 
very little known, it is likely our knowledge of it will be much 
increased. The latest news of this intrepid traveler comes by way 
of Pekin, and reports him as having reached the southern part of 
the province of Tsaidam on the northern frontier of Tibet. The 
route from there to Lhassa is known, partly through Prejeval- 
sky's own researches in 1872, and partly from Hue and Gabet's 
journey. 

Count Szechenyi having, as stated in the Naturalist for No- 
vember, 1879, been obliged to abandon his attempt to cross the 
Kum Tagh to the Lob-Nor, made a journey southwards from 
Su-chow-fu, visiting the high range forming the northern bound- 
ary of the plains of Tsaidam. Then returning to Su-chow-fu he 
proceeded south-easterly to Si-ning-fu through a mountainous 
region constituting the basin of the river Tatung, a tributary to 
the Yellow river. These mountains attain the limits of perpetual 
snow and are called Nan Shan. Si-ning-fu is situated at the foot 
of lofty snow-clad mountains (14,500 feet), in a well cultivated 
country, and is the principal depot of the rhubarb trade between 
China and Russia. He next endeavored to reach Lhassa by the 
direct route over the high plateau of Tibet, the road followed by 
Pere Hue, but could not advance further than the Odantala 
plain where the Yellow river rises. The party left Si-ning-fu on 
August 12, 1879, and reached Cheng-tu-fu, the capital of Szech- 
uen, at the beginning of October. This route is quite unknown, 
and passes over the water-sheds of the two great rivers, the Yellow 
and the Yang-tse-kiang. Szechenyi s arrival on the 24th of October 
at Ta-chien-lu has been reported at Pekin. Notwithstanding the 
efforts of the Chinese to dissuade him from continuing his jour- 
ney into Tibet and the reported hostility of the natives of that 
country, he, when last heard from, was continuing his journey to 
Batang and Lhassa. 

The immense coal fields of China are slowly being developed. 
On the upper Yang-tse-kiang a coal field has been found extend- 
ing over seventy-five square miles. In one bed lying only a 
hundred feet from the surface at least 1,200,000 tons of anthra- 
cite have been exposed. 

The Acaiiemy states, on the authority of the British Consul at 

1 The best map on which to trace this portion of Prejevalskv's route we have found 
to be Tafel I. Peterm.mns Mittheihmjai, « S 7 b, showing his previous journey in 



1 880. J Geography and Travels. 387 

Saigon, Cochin China, that the natives of the country, especially 
in the more northern districts of Indo-China, have the great toe 
of the foot separated from the others like the thumb of the hand, 
so that it can be used, in a limited degree, in the same way. 
This peculiarity is mentioned in Chinese annals so far back as 
2300 B. C. 

Several Russian travelers have recently made important ex- 
plorations in Central Asia. M. Potanin has solved many im- 
portant questions connected with the geography of north-western 
Mongolia and made valuable natural history and ethnological col- 
lections. M. Severtsof has, by a recent exploration of the Pamir, 
made considerable additions to our knowledge of its physical and 
geographical features. Some of the peaks in the Pamir were 
found to be of great height — the Mustagh attaining an elevation 
of 25,800 feet. The snow line was found to be at 14,000 feet on 
the northern, and at 19,000 feet on the southern slope of the 

M. Oshanin describes a visit to the upper part of the Muk-sou, 
a tributary of the Surkhab river. From a notice of his paper in 
Nature we learn that very high peaks inclose the deep valley 
of this stream, the bottom of which is 8000 feet above the sea 
level. The Sandal peak is 25,000 feet high. These peaks are 
covered for two-thirds of their height with snow, and immense 
glaciers flow from their wide amphitheatres into the valley of the 
Sel-su river and those of its tributaries. They form together a gla- 
cier which descends very low, its lower extremity, one and a-half 
miles wide, being met with at a distance of fifteen miles from 
Altyn-mazar at the confluence of the Sel-su, Luk-su and Kainda 
rivers. The length of this glacier is not less than twenty to 
twenty-five miles, and it is fed with several other glaciers of very 
large size. The oscillations in its length have a great importance, 
as sometimes it advances so far into the valley as completely to 
bar up the valley of the affluent of the Sel-su, the Baland-kiik ; 
this last thence forms a wide base which afterwards cuts through 
a passage in the ice and inundates the main valley, destroying 
the forests. The vegetation in the neighborhood of the glacier is 
very poor, whilst the lateral valley of the Baland-kiik is covered 
with rich forests and grass, though far higher than that of the 
Sel-su. M. Oshanin observed immense quantities of the Micro- 
plax interrupta Fieb., in the neighborhood of Altyn-mazar. This 
Oxycercnina, which is characteristic of the southern parts of the 
palsarctic region in Europe, reaches in Central Asia such 
heights as, in the Alps and Pyrenees, are occupied with represen- 
tations of the Arctic zone. 

M. Fetissoff, the director of the Botanical Garden at Vernoe, 
has demonstrated that the supposed volcanoes in the Kuldja 
district are really coal beds in a state of combustion. 

Another Russian explorer, M. Pyevtsoff, has traveled from 



388 General Notes. [May, 

Kobdo to Kalgan, and thence to Ulassoutai via Urga, in Mon- 
golia. From Ulassoutai he turned west to the Chuyra river, 
which was reached at Kosh-agach. Nearly the whole of this 
journey was through unexplored territory. No less than 2700 
miles were surveyed and twenty-six points determined astronomi- 
cally as well by chronometer as by occultations. Barometrical 
measurements were made during the whole journey, and very 
rich zoological, botanical and mineralogical collections were 
obtained. 

Bangkok, the capital of Siam, is to be united to the telegraphic 
system of the world by a partly overland and partly submarine 
line connecting with the one now running to Moulmein. 

M. W. Shapira sends to the Athencemn (March 13, 1880) Jin 
interesting account of a journey of four months during the sum- 
mer of 1879 in the interior of Yemen, the Arabia Felix of the 
Romans. He describes it as the most fertile and temperate country 
on this side of Asia, owing its happiness chiefly to the absence of 
the Shumum winds — the great curse of Syria and Northern 
Africa — and its prosperity to its having two rainy seasons of four 
months each, and consequently two harvests in the year. The 
mountains make the climate temperate and healthy. Yemen has 
an area of about 50,000 miles, more than half of which belongs 
to a series of plateaux from 4000 to 8500 feet above the level of 
the sea. The boundary line of Yemen is as follows : western 
side, along the eastern side of the Red sea, from Bab-el-Mandab 
south to Lohaya north ; then north side, from Lohaya north-west 
to Saada north-east ; then from Saada north-east to Aden south- 
east ; then from Aden south-east to Bab-el-Mandab south-west, 
so that it forms an oblong square of about I IO to 150 miles wide 
and 450 long. The chief towns of Yemen are situated on the 
second plateau, from 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea. This 
plateau is fertile and well watered. 

MICROSCOPY. 1 
Organisms in Ice from Stagnant Water. — During the past 
season on account of the unusually mild weather, ice has been 
gathered quite extensively from stagnant water in canals and 
ponds. Since the middle of February I have been making micro- 
scopical investigations with regard to the purity of such ice. The 
plan adopted has been to select only those fragments taken from 
the interior of blocks which appear clean and transparent to the 
unassisted eye. On melting those fragments and examining the 
water thus obtained with various magnifying powers up to 900 
diameters, bits of vegetable tissues and confervoid growths are 
usually recognizable at once. I have not noticed animalculae in 
an active state in water from ice that has just been melted, but 
upon allowing such water to settle and become warm at the or- 
1 This department is edited by Dr. R. II. Ward, Troy, N. V. 



i88o.] Scientific News. 389 

dinary temperature of a room occupied for living purposes, the 
sediment deposited may be found to contain, after some hours, 
monads whose movements are easily discernible with a magnify- 
ing powers of from 200 to 400 diameters. Upon allowing the 
water to stand still longer I have found the confervae growing 
thriftily, and in some instances forming clusters or bundles fre- 
quented by minute animalculae, the entire appearance in this case 
being very similar to that presented by the nests occupied by the 
young of the common Paramecium which I have seen in stagnant 
water. As the result of these investigations I am fully convinced 
that freezing does not free water from filth due to the presence of 
sewage or decaying vegetable matter, and further, that it is alto- 
gether probable that the germs from which animalculae are de- 
veloped, if not the animalculae themselves in a quiescent state, are 
present in very much of the ice taken from stagnant water. This 
being the case, it would seem that the use of such ice in drinking 
water is hazardous, to say the least. — M. A. Veeder, Lyons, N. Y. 
American Society of Microscopists. — The Executive Com- 
mittee of this Society has decided upon Tuesday, August 17th, 
as the date of the coming meeting at Detroit, which is expected 
to continue four days. Ample arrangements are already being 
made for the entertainment of the Society by the local Micro- 
scopical Club. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 

— Editors Naturalist. — The severe criticism upon a short 
paper on the Entomostraca, which I published in the Report of 
the Minnesota Geological Survey, seems to admit of a reply. 

The writer is not uncognizant of numerous faults in the paper, 
but is not willing to renounce the hope, expressed in the preface, 
that it will be of some slight service to those for whom it was 
designed. 

The reviewer seems to ignore the design of the paper and the 
avowal of the author, which cover most of the points criticised. 

It was intended as an aid to those who are interested in such 
humble forms, but are unable to secure the numerous foreign 
works necessary to obtain a complete view of the group. 

The definition of the new species was but an incidental feature. 

The names of the sources of information used are, for the most 
part, mentioned in the preface, so it is obvious the harsh criticism 
on this point is uncalled for. 

The statement that no credit is given for facts and bi! 
cal lists is covered by that fact, and the instance cited ( Daphma 
pulex) does contain references to Baird's work. 

The animus of the criticism is visible in the fact that the 
reviewer deplores the absence of reference, in one case at least, to 



390 Proceedings of Scientific Societies. [May, 

works not published at the time the MS. was submitted. If it be 
a crime for an almanac to differ from an encyclopedia, there are 
many sinners. If the paper had been intended as a revision of 
the classification rather than a mere annotated list with references 
to such works as were consulted for assistance of amateurs, the 
severity might seem merited. 

Finally, typographical errors are to be greatly regretted, and 
the genius of the compositor who renders gnathites qualities, bor- 
ders on the sublime, yet any one who has attempted to secure a 
correct rendering of scientific names from compositors unfamiliar 
with them, will readily understand that the lack of opportunity 
for second reading of proof might cover many sins ; however, 
Mr. Kingsley has compiled a quite complete list of errata, cover- 
ing the important errors. 

In conclusion the writer would add that the paper was collected 
from notes gathered at different times for another purpose, and 
the material was given its present form for reasons mentioned, and 
not without the advice of those of greater experience. 

The present intention is to continue the study with the assis- 
tance of works which unfortunately came too late to be used in 
the preparation of the paper, and assistance and advice is solicited 
and will be reciprocated as far as possible. 

My thanks are due Mr. Kingsley for his attempt to correct any 
errors which might mislead, and are respectfully tendered. — C. 
L. Herrick. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 

Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Jan. 13—. 
Profs. C. N. Pierce and E. D. Cope were dropped from the coun- 
cil on account of absence from more than six of the meet- 
ings ; Prof. Cope having been engaged in a scientific exploration 
in Oregon. Their re-nomination was refused on the ground that 
the exclusion from the council is of the nature of a penalty for 
the absence in question. 

Dr. H. C. Chapman remarked on the genito-urinary organs of 
Caprotnys piloroidcs (clitoris perforated by the urethra), and on 
the occurrence of Cysticerci in the Macaque. 

Jan. 18. — In response to a resolution of the Academy, the fol- 
lowing communication from Prof. Cope was read : 
Dr. E. J. Nolan. 

Sir:— Yours of the 14th inst. containing a copy of a resolution 
of the Academy of Natural Sciences, is received. The resolution 
requests a statement of the grounds on which were based certain 
assertions which I have made in the Philadelphia Record for Jan. 
8th, 1880. I take great pleasure in furnishing the desired informa- 
tion, as follows : 

First statement. " It may be remarked that at the late election 



1 880.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 39 1 

the reform party polled more votes than at any previous election 
(48 votes)." Explanation : John S. Haines, one of the candidates 
of the reform party, received according to the official count, fur- 
nished me by a reliable person, forty-two votes by the ballots on 
colored paper, and six votes by the ballots on white paper, which 
were thrown out by the tellers. 42 + 6 = 48. I take as a test 
of the previous strength of the reform party the vote on the final 
passage of the present by-laws, by which the professorships were 
established. After an open discussion of five months they were 
adopted by a vote of not more than thirty yeas and only two nays. 

Second statement. *' That they" (i. e. the reform party) " elected 
three out of their five candidates." The three candidates nomi- 
nated by members of the reform party who were elected, are Dr. 
A. J. Parker, Edward Potts and Rev. H. C. McCook. 

Third statement. "One of whom however" (i. e. one of the can- 
didates of the reform party who was elected) " has been irregu- 
larly superseded." By this I intended to refer to the fact, that 
Dr. R. S. Kenderdine, having withdrawn from the candidacy for 
the position of curator in entire accordance with parliamentary 
law, was no longer a candidate. That the placing of his name on 
the ticket at a subsequent meeting by a ruling of the president, 
was an arbitrary act, done contrary to the continued ruling of the 
same president for years past, which has not permitted the placing 
of any name in nomination for office after the last Tuesday in 
November. To say then that Dr. A. J. Parker has been " irregu- 
larly superseded," is to state in the mildest language, a position 
of affairs, which it is hoped will be, in the interest of fair dealing, 
soon remedied. I am very truly yours, K. D. Cow.. 

Verbal remarks by Dr. Leidy on the occurrence of Filaria 
immitis in the dog. Mr. J. A. Ryder remarked on the utiliza- 
tion of electricity for the purpose of instantly killing mollusks 
in a fully extended condition. 

Feb. 3— Mr. J. A. Ryder spoke on the nucleus of the eggs of 
limpets, Crepidula fomicata. 

Feb. 10.— Dr. H. C. Evarts remarked on the occurrence of 
Cercaria hyalocauda Hald. 

Feb. 24. — Dr. Leidy described some Naid worms — Aulophorus 
vagus and Pristina flagellum named. Mr. J. S. Kingsley on the 
holothurian genus Kolga. 

Mar. 2.— Dr. Leidy remarked on Dytiscus and Mactra; also, on 
Filaria restiformis, a new human parasite, 26 inches long. Mr. J. 
o. Kingsley on the structure of the eyes of Lintuius. 

Mar. 9.— Dr. Coates made a verbal communication on some an- 
cient Peruvian pottery exhibited by him. Drs. Coates, Leidy and 
LeConte, on the ancient Cyclopean structures of Peru, Egypt, 
etc Mr. J. A. Ryder described two myriapods, Scohfendrella 
notacantha and S. gratia, nov. sp. ; also, some remarks on the po- 
sition of the chlorophyll' grains in certain Vorticell*. 



392 Proc. of Sci. Socs. and Selected . lrti\ .'< j> in S, i. Serials. [May. 

The following papers have been presented for publication : — 
Jan. 6. " On the Nudibranchiate Gastropod Mollusca of the North 
Pacific ocean, with special reference to those of Alaska," by Dr. 
R. Bergh of Copenhagen, Part n. — "The Terrestrial Mollusca 
inhabiting the Cook's or Harvey islands," by Andrew Garrett. 
Jan. 27. " Carcinological Notes, No. 2; Revision of the Gelasimi," 
by J. S. Kingsley. Feb. 17. "A description of a new Crustacean 
from the Upper Silurian of Georgia, with remarks upon C 'alymene 
clintonii," by A. W. Vogdes. Feb. 24. " Pelagic AmphipodaP bv 
T. Hale Street, M.D., U.S.N.— " Carcinological Notes, No. 3," by 
J. S. Kingsley. Mar. 9. " Check-list of the Maioidea of the Pa- 
cific coast," by W. N. Lockington. 

California Academy of Sciences, Feb. 16. — A complete cat- 
alogue of the Fungi of the Pacific Coast, compiled by Dr. H. 
W. Harkness and Justin P. Moore, was presented. An article 
by Justin P. Moore was read on "Edible Fungi." W. W. 
Lockington read an article entitled, " Is Evolution Immoral ?" 

New York Academy of Sciences, March 22. — Mr. I. C. Rus- 
sell remarked on the former extent of the Triassic rocks of the 
Atlantic slope. 

Boston Society of Natural History. March 17. — Dr. M. E. 
Wadsworth discussed the iron ores of Lake Superior and their 
associated rocks. 

American Geographical Society, March 23. — Chief Justice 
Daly delivered the annual address upon the geographical work 
of the world in 1878 and 1879. 

SELECTED ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

American Journal of Science and Arts.— March. The old 
river beds of California, by J. Le Conte. Note on the age of the 
Green mountains, by J. D. Dana. Western limits of the Taconic 
system, by S. W. Ford. Principal characters of American Juras- 
sic Dinosaurs, by O. C. Marsh. 

American Journal of Science. — April. History of some Pre- 
cambrian rocks in America and Europe, by T. Sterry Hunt. 
Synopsis of the Cephalopoda of the Northeastern coast of 
America, by A. E. Verrill. 

Jenaische Zeitschrift fur naturwissenschaft.— January 31. 
The brain of Ammoccetes and Petromyzon planeri, with especial 
reference to the spinal-like brain nerves, by R. Wiedersheim. The 
skeleton of Pleurodeles waltli, by R. Wiedersheim. O. and R. 
Hertwig continue their researches on the anatomy and histology 
of the Actinians. Special and general studies on the morphology 
and development of the Hydra, by W. Haacke. 

Zeitschrift fur Naturwissenschaftliche Zoologie.— March 
i . The article of most general interest is by E. Nauck on the 
hard parts of the stomach of crabs. 



THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xiv. — JUNE, 1880. — No. 6. 



THE DOMESTICATION OF CERTAIN RUMINANTS 
AND AQUATIC BIRDS. 

BY A. E. BROWN AND J. D. CATON. 

The following correspondence will interest both naturalists and 
sportsmen : 

Zoological Garden, 

Dear Sir: — The large amount of information which I have 
gained from your valuable work on the Antelope and Deer of 
North America, together with your well known interest in all mat- 
ters relating to the domestication of the Cervidae, leave me little 
hesitation in taking up a small portion of your time on the sub- 
ject. My experience with our mule deer (C. macrotis) has been 
very similar to yours, with the exception that the adults, two bucks 
and one doe, which were first procured by the Society four years 
ago, have all done well and are now in very excellent condition. 
In the summer of 1878, we bred two fawns, and during the past 
summer three more, two of these being twins, one of which died 
when two days old. The other four turned out just as yours have 
done; all were subject to diarrhoea, which was checked by the use 
of astringent food, as oak leaves and ragweed, to avoid as much 
as possible the giving of medicines, but in every case the disease 
returned. This summer I have regularly plied them with tonics, 
first iron water, from a spring near the garden, then sulphate of 
quinia, and finally gentian powders, with good effect for a while but 
without affecting the general result. In each case I have found on 
post mortem examination, a similar condition of things — the diar- 
rhoea resulted from cancer of the stomach (except in the youngest, 



394 Domestication of certain Ruminant:: and . hjnatie Birds. [June, 

some four months old, in which there was peritonitis, but no local- 
ized center of irritation) ; the general physical condition was poor, 
tubercles generally being found in the liver and spleen ; in each 
case death was immediately owing to the presence of a fibrous 
clot in the heart, resulting from the generally impoverished con- 
dition of the animal. All had fed well or rather voraciously up 
to the day of death. 

The females have never appeared to take much care of the 
young, and they have been weaned very early. I have about 
determined, if I have an opportunity to try again, to attempt to 
raise the young altogether by hand. This is, of course, always 
risky, but from past experience I am inclined to think it no more 
so than to leave them with the mother. It is very difficult to give 
them the proper amount of arboreal food, and its place has to be 
supplied mostly with ordinary dry food and grass, hay, a little 
corn, bran several times a week, either wet or dry as may seem 
to be desirable for the condition of the animal. I have not 
noticed in any of our specimens, the elongation of the hoof which 
you observed in yours. I will be exceedingly glad if you can 
give me any ideas or suggestions which would serve to promote 
my attempts to domesticate the species — as thus far I confess to a 
complete failure— the breeding of healthy offspring being the best 
possible measure of success in domestication. 

It will not be uninteresting to you to know what my experience 
has been with other species of deer. We have had in the collec- 
tion the following : 

Moose (Alee amcricanus). 

Caribou (Rangijer caribou). 

Wapiti ( Cervus canadensis). 

Common deer (C. virginianus). 

White-tailed deer ( C. leucurus). 

Mule deer ( C. macrotis). 

Mazame deer ( C. campestris). \ 

Wood Brocket ( C. nemorivagus). I South America. 

Pudu deer (C pudu). j 

Fallow deer ( Cervus damn). Europe. 

Axis deer (C axis). \ 

Sambur deer ( C. anstotelis). J n ia ' 
All of five specimens of moose and eight of caribou have died 
at periods varying from three months to two years and five months, 



1 8 So.] Dome:,.':, ,:/: •/: ,/ c\t/,///; A,. ■ :: ;auh a i I . l/uatic Birds. 395 

in the moose, and not beyond nine months in the caribou, from 
hypertrophy of the heart; owing, in my opinion, in great meas- 
ure to the impossibility of providing the proper kind and quality 
of arboreal food, and somewhat also to the climate and the limited 
range given them in a zoological garden. C. canadensis and C. 
z-irguiiamis have done well. We have bred a number of each and 
have lost none from natural causes, except some four or five fawns 
from improper care when first born. Of C. leucurus we have had 
but one specimen. The South American deer seem to be con- 
stitutionally weak. We have bred and raised several of C. campes- 
tris, as also of C. aristotdis and C. dama. In C. axis the 
female has had two abortions, and is now, I think, too old to breed. 
My experience with our prong-horn (A. americana) has also 
been similar to yours — they all die speedily from diarrhoea or 
hypertrophy of the heart ; change of food and tonics seem to have 
no effect upon them. We have had some ten or twelve individu- 
als, none of which lived more than fifteen months. 

The only possible apology for so long a letter is the great inter- 
est of the subject, which I trust you will accept as sufficient to 
warrant the liberty, and 1 shall be glad to consider myself as 
under obligation for any result of your experience in the domesti- 
cation of the mule deer, which you are at liberty to assist me 
with. I am, with much respect, your obedient servant, 

Arthur E. Brown. 

I have just been much disappointed in losing a fawn of the 
Javan musk deer or Chevrotain ( Tnvjulus jwaniats). The mother 
refused from the start to take any care of it, and I succeeded in 
keeping it alive for three days, by hand, but it was too delicate to 
stand handling and has just died. The little thing weighed less 
than three ounces, the adults being only about ten inches high. — 
A. E. B. 

Ottawa, Illinois, November 10th, 1879. 
Arthur E. Brown, Esq., Gen'l Supt. Zoo. Soc. Philadelphia : 

Dear Sir: — I am just in receipt of your very kind and interest- 
ing letter of the 7th inst, and hasten to reply and thank you. 

I have received no more mule deer since my book was published, 
and about that time I lost my last of that species and also of the 
Columbia deer (C. columbianus), I am satisfied that they cannot 
be successfully domesticated in my grounds. They either find 
something which does not agree with them or something is want- 



396 Domestication of certain Ruminants and Aquatic Birds. [June, 

ing which they require — most probably the former. And hence I 
think that closer confinement will promise better results. 

I added seven more antelope {Antilocapra amcricand) to my 
grounds, but all died in the course of the summer. Indeed all 
my experiments with ruminants, fera natures, whose natural habi- 
tation is confined to the United States, west of the Missouri river, 
have proved failures. 

About two years since I received a mountain sheep {Ovis mon- 
tanus) — a female, from General Miles, stationed at Fort Keogh, and 
in the spring following another (a young male), but in spite of every 
possible care, both have died with much the same complaints as 
the mule and Cqlumbia deer. In less than a month after arrival 
diarrhoea set in and though arrested repeatedly it would always 
return. The male survived scarcely six months, the female 
nearly two years, but she grew but little and scarcely ever seemed 
well. 

My Virginia deer continue to reduce in numbers till now I have 
not more than fifteen, though these seem to be vigorous and per- 
fectly healthy, yet not prolific. I have turned my attention to 
hybridizing them with the Ceylon deer and the Acapulcodeer (C. 
aca/ndcensis), which with the hybrids seem to be perfectly healthy 
and prolific. I think it remarkable that these small species of 
deer, from such great distances and warm countries, should be so 
hardy and prolific here — most of the thorough-bred does have 
had two fawns this year, and several of the hybrids to this buck 
brought from Acapulco have two fawns and all perfectly healthy. 
I consider these- small deer a great acquisition. On some of the 
hybrids the metatarsal gland is wanting and on some it is present, 
while some will have it on one hind leg and not on the other. 

My elk {C. canadensis), continue to do well and are so prolific 
that I have had repeatedly to reduce their number, and would be 
glad now to dispose of at least thirty. I have on an average about 
one old buck a year killed in battle, and sometimes another by 
some casualty, but all are healthy. Mine grow very large, and of 
all the Cervidae they seem best adapted to domestication. 

You mention among your other species of deer Cervus leucurus. 
After much study, I came to the conclusion that the C. leucurus 
was but a variety of C. virginianus and so stated in my work. 

My efforts to acclimatize ornithological specimens have been 
interesting. The Canada goose (Bernic/a canadensis), are very 



i88o.] Domestication of certain Ruminants and Aquatic Birds. 397 

easily domesticated. When taken adult, a month or two is suffi- 
cient to make them as tame as those that have been in the grounds 
for years. They are healthy and prolific. 

The white fronted geese (Anser ccerulescens) do not domesticate 
so readily, and have not reproduced, though they were observed to 
couple last spring. 

The Hawaiian geese {Bernicla sandvicensis), which I brought 
over in the spring of 1878, have proved hardy and I trust will 
prove reproductive. They were well sheltered and cared for last 
winter, and came through in good order. Both geese commenced 
laying in April, one laid three and the other four eggs, but only 
one showed a disposition to set upon the eggs, and she, after at- 
tending to her business faithfully for ten days, tired of it and quit 
the nest, so they produced no goslings. 

In the wild state they lay but two or three eggs, while in 
domestication they sometimes lay eight or ten. 

Mr. Brickwood, Post Master General of the kingdom, who had 
them in domestication for many years, sometimes raised as many 

In domestication they seem to have strong attachments and are 
fond of human society, one gander in particular has become very 
fond of me, and always greets me cordially, and will talk with me 
in a low, soft plaintive tone so long as I will indulge the humor. 

They are less aquatic than the other geese. The foot is not 
more than half webbed. They take a bath scarcely once a day, 
and rarely remain in the water long. I once saw one with the 
tail under water as we see a hen when forced to swim. Their 
native habitat is the high volcanic mountains in the Island of 
Hawaii, where they breed among the lava beds, depending upon 
the pools which they find among the rocks for water, never going 
down to the sea. They are of strong flight in the wild state, 
though in domestication they show little disposition to fly. Alto- 
gether they are the most interesting water-fowl which I possess, 
and I hope another year to raise some of them from the only pair 
I have left. A few weeks ago I lost the other pair by a mink. 

I can add little to your observations on Japanese and Chinese 
geese. The former is twice as large as the latter. These have 
black legs, while those have yellow. They are very noisy, fairly 
discounting the Guinea fowls. 

I supposed I had a pair of sand-hill cranes {firm canadensis), 



398 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

till they were seven years old, when both laid eggs and have done 
so now for three years. They lay two eggs each upon the naked 
ground without the least appearance of a nest, and far away from 
the water. Last spring I procured a young male (as I suppose), 
but no two of the three ever associate together, as far as observed. 
One of the females sat about ten days upon her eggs last spring 
and then gave it up. The crows dined on the eggs of the others. 
I hope in the future to write more fully my observations on the 
mountain sheep and the Hawaiian geese, both of which are in- 
teresting subjects of study and are not very thoroughly under- 
stood. Very truly yours, J. D. Caton. 



THE CRITICS OF EVOLUTION. 

BY J. S. LIPPINCOTT. 

[Continued^] 

Opposition of Dazvson. — Prof. Dawson is also an inconsistent 
writer. In [869 he published his " Modern Ideas of Derivation," 
an address to the students of McGill College, Montreal, in which 
he stated his belief, that Prof. Cope's hypothesis, as advanced in 
his " Origin of Genera," is the " most promising of all that have 
been announced," and as " holding forth the most promising line 
of investigation by which we may hope ultimately to arrive at 
more true expression of the law of creation with reference to 
organized beings." This was an admission that he was in accord 
with the evolutionists. 

Prof. Dawson is among those who have eittempted to harmo- 
nize Scripture and science. I am unable to see that they can at 
present be harmonized, and am confirmed in the belief in the 
difficulty, by the opinion of the ablest geologists with whom I 
have the good fortune to be acquainted. Moreover, Prof. Le- 
Conte, of the University of California, confirms this impression. 
He also has written and lectured largely upon this subject, for 
the benefit of the, Young Men's Christian. Association, and is a 
firm believer in the truths of revealed religion. LeConte can- 
didly admits that all attempts to reconcile the Mosaic cosmogony 
with the results of science must be distasteful to the philosophical 
Christian. They must ever be but artificial and ingenious human 
devices. Far better to regard the books of Revelation and of 



i88o.J The Critics of Evolution. 399 

nature in the philosophical spirit, and simply to wait and possess 
yourselves in patience, for the questions in dispute will, ere long, 
adjust themselves as others have done. He has used them, he 
admits, in times past, " but now considers them almost like trifling 
with the words of Scripture and the teachings of nature." 1 

" He who believes the Scriptures to have proceeded from Him 
who is the Author of nature, may well expect to find the same sort 
of difficulties in them as are found in the constitution of nature." 
This passage is from the writings of Origen, " the father of bibli- 
cal criticism and exegesis in Christendom," and is probably the 
text upon which Bishop Butler based his " Analogy of Religion, 
Natural and Revealed, to the constitution and course of Nature," 
"the ablest treatise on the philosophy of religion." 

Prof. Dawson admits that " organizations styling themselves 
'the Church,' whose warrant from the Bible is often of the slen- 
derest, have denounced and opposed new scientific truths and 
persecuted their upholders, but they have just as often denounced 
the Bible itself, and religious doctrines founded on it." He 
remarks that " theology is not religion, and may often have very 
little in common with true religion or with the Bible. When 
discussions arise between theology and other sciences, it is only 
a pity that either side should indulge in what has been termed 
the odium theologicum, but which is unfortunately not confined to 
divines." " Perhaps," he continues, " the most troublesome oppo- 
sition to science, or rather to the progress of science, has sprung 
from the tenacity with which zee hold to old ideas:' The science, 
which was at one time the best attainable, roots itself in men's 
minds and thus "becomes a difficult matter to wrench from its 
hold, and its advocates are too apt to invoke in its defense politi- 
cal, social and ecclesiastical powers, and to support it by the 
authority of revelation, even when this, rightly understood, might 
be quite as favorable to the new views." 

A work by Prof. Dawson entitled 2 " The Story of the Earth 
and Man," is, by many, esteemed a forcible protest against evolu- 

,M Religion and Science; a series of Sunday lectures on the Relation of Natural 

Joseph LeConte, Prof, of Geology and Natural History ia the University of Califor- 
nia. 1874. 

1 " The Story of the Earth and Man." By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S, F.G.S. 
Gray in « Darwinian*," pp. 245-251 



400 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

tion. In it he attempts to explain the facts of nature on the 
theory of creation as opposed to evolution, while he denounces 
the advocates of Darwinism, and boldly asserts " that evolution 
as an hypothesis has no basis in experience or in scientific fact." 
This work was written in 1873. He has so well described the 
character of the obstructionist and irreconcilable in the extracts 
above given from a more recent paper, 1 that we may almost imag- 
ine that he had himself in view, and that larger knowledge of the 
accumulating facts of evolution has had some influence upon his 
position as respects its scientific basis. 

Prof. J. W. Dawson is, I believe, the only naturalist of deserved 
reputation who repudiates the established truths of evolution; yet 
he deems it his duty to apologize for the supposed " conflict of 
science and religion," and in the Princeton Review for November, 
1879, appeared the following delivery from his pen. The pursuit 
of science has not entirely failed, even in his case, to widen his 
mental scope, and render him wiser than his theological proclivi- 
ties would alone have left him : 

" Perhaps there is no part of the Bible in which the teaching of 
nature with reference to divine things is more fully represented 
than in the Book of Job, and I am inclined to think that not a 
few, even of religious men, fail to see precisely the significance of 
the address of the Almighty to Job, in the concluding chapter of 
that book. Job is tortured and brought near to death by severe 
bodily disease. His friends have exhausted all their divinity and 
philosophy upon him in the vain effort to convince him that he 
deserves this infliction for special and aggravated sins ; at length 
the Almighty intervenes and gives the final decision. But instead 
of discussing the ethical and theological difficulties of the case, 
He enters into a sublime and poetical description of mature. He 
speaks of the heaven above, of the atmosphere, its vapors, and 
its storms, and of the habits and powers of animals. In short 
Job is treated to a lecture on natural history, yet this instantane- 
ously affects what the arguments of his friends have altogether 
failed to produce, and Job humbles himself before God in contri- 
tion and repentance. * * * 

" I would put this case of Job before modern Christians in three 
aspects: (1) Do we attach enough of importance to the Gospel 
of nature, as vindicating God's sovereignty and fatherhood, and 
preaching submission, humilitv and faith? Might we not here 
take a lesson from the Bible itself? (2) May there not be many 
in our time who like Job ' have heard of him with the hearing oi 



i88o.] The Critics of Evolution. 401 

the ear,' but have not seen him with the eye in his ' works,' and 
on the other hand, are there not many who have seen the works 
without seeing the Maker, who can even ' magnify God's works 
which men behold ' without knowing the author of them ? 
Would it not be well to bring more together in friendly discus- 
sion and comparison of notes, those who thus look on only one 
side of the shield ? (3) Should we not beware of the error of 
Job's friends in misrepresenting God's plans and thereby denounc- 
ing those who differ from us ? These three wise and well- 
meaning men had nature all around them, yet they disregarded 
its teachings, and dwelt on old saws and philosophic dogmas, 
until God himself had to bring out the whirlwind, the thunder- 
storm, the ostrich, the horse and the hippopotamus to teach a 
better theology." "What does this import? Simply that through 
the representation to him of God's works, Job had attained a new 
view of God and of himself. He had not considered or fairly 
viewed the world around him in its grandeur, its complexity, its 
unaccountable relations, and contrasted it with his own little 
sphere of thought and work." 

So to the hitherto untaught, whether layman or divine, who, in 
ignorance of nature, have so generally " uttered what they under- 
stood not," " obscured counsel by words without knowledge," and 
have misrepresented God's plans, the philosophy of evolution 
will yet prove to be a revelation of the Divine wisdom. 

Adhesion of Dr. Mc Cosh.— The work of Dr. James McCosh, 
the distinguished professor of logic and mathematics of Queen's 
College, Belfast, on the "Divine Government, Physical and 
Moral," has been pronounced of preeminent merit, and even Dr. 
Charles Hodge, of Princeton, the accuser of Darwinism as 
rank atheism, asserts " it is generally regarded as one of the first 
books of the age." Dr. McCosh also wrote, in connection with 
Dr. Dickie, "Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation," 
which is described as " in the modern phases of infidelity, as likely 
to prove more cogent than Butler and quite as unanswerable." 

Dr. McCosh proved so powerful a champion against modern 
infidelity, so able a vindicator of the truths of revealed religion, 
that the College at Princeton, New Jersey, invited him to 
become its Principal. The directors were aware that there was 
no man among their divines of American theological training, 
competent to combat the "infidels" and do credit to their institu- 
tion as a learned and accomplished president. Now what is the 
testimony of this distinguished teacher? It is that 1 "good may 



402 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

arise from showing that when the doctrine of development is 
properly explained and understood, and kept within its legitimate 
sphere, there is nothing in it inconsistent with natural or revealed 
religion." In his comments on Huxley's lectures he admits that 1 
" transitional forms are ever casting up," and that " in certain 
fields we have these transitions already disclosed," that " certain 
cases indicate a tendency on the part of the reptile to rise to the 
bird, and of the bird to retain properties of the reptile. / have 
ever stood up," says he, "for a doctrine of development." " I see 
nothing irreligious iji holding that the bird may have been evolved 
by numerous transitions from the reptile, and the living horse 
from the old horse of the Eocene formation." " Let us suppose 
they can also, in rare cases of combination, produce species, 
religion is not thereby undermined either in its evidences or in 
its essential doctrine." " God is present in all His works, and acts 
in all their actings." " For in Him we live and move and have our 
being." "For we are also His offspring." "This doctrine may be so 
stated as to make it pantheistic. It is the one grand truth con- 
tained in pantheism, giving it all its plausibility, and making it 
superior to that bald theism which makes God create the world at 
first, and then stand by and see it go." "This doctrine can be so 
stated as to free it from all such tendencies on the one side or the 
other, so as to make God distinct from all His works and yet act- 
ing in them. This is, I believe, the philosophical doctrine. It 
has been held by the greatest thinkers which our world has pro- 
duced, such as Descartes, Leibnitz, Berkeley, Herschel, Faraday 
and multitudes of others." In the view of the renowned Jonathan 
Edwards, " nature is a perpetual creation. " Dr. McCosh con- 
tinues: " God is to be seen not only in creation at first, but in the 
continuance of all things. He is acknowledged not only in the 
origination of matter, but in its development, not only in the rep- 
tile and the bird, but in the steps by which the one has been 
derived from the other; not only in the Orohippus, but in the 
stages by which that animal has risen into the horse so useful to 
man." " I do believe that these old horse forms were preparations 
for the horse now living." Finally, we conclude our numerous 
extracts from the writings of Dr. McCosh, with the following : 
" Suppose we admit all that Huxley claims on this subject, what 
then ? Have we set aside any doctrine of philosophy or religion ? 

i"Is the Development Hypothesis Sufficient?" by Dr. James McCosh, in the 
Popular Science Monthly, Vol. X, pp. 86-100. 



i88o.] The Critics of Evolution. 403 

God is still to be seen every where in His works, and rules over all. 
It appears to me," he adds, " that the whole doctrine of vegetable 
and animal species needs to be reviewed and readjusted, and relig- 
ion need not fear for the result. I have been convinced of this 
ever since I learned, when I was ardently studying botany, that 
the number of species of plants had risen to two millions. I was 
sure that all these are works of God, but I was not sure that each 
was a special creation." 1 Thus it appears that Dr. McCosh, one 
of the ablest defenders of the Christian faith against the attacks 
of modern infidelity, is a pronounced evolutionist ! 

Adhesion of Rev. Charles Kmg$Uy.—\l the above from the able 
and orthodox Dr. McCosh does not suffice to show that the 
whole line of argument used by some popular anti-evolution 
critics is fitted only to delude the unwary, I may adduce the tes- 
timony of Rev. Charles Kingsley in my defense. 

This eloquent divine and naturalist, in his " Westminster Ser- 
mons," 2 and in a paper afterwards read to a meeting of London 
clergy at Sion College, remarks, " The God who satisfies our 
conscience ought more or less to satisfy our reason also. To 
teach that, was Butler's mission [in his ' Analogy of Religion, 
Natural and Revealed '], and he fulfilled it well. But it is a 
mission which has to be refulfilled again and again, as human 
thought changes and human science develops. For if in any age 
or country the God who seems to be revealed by nature seems 
also different from the God who is revealed by the then popular 
religion, then that God and the religion which tells of that God, 
will gradually cease to be believed in." (< For the demands of rea- 
son must be, and ought to be, satisfied. And, therefore, when a 
popular war arises between the reason of any generation and its 
theology, then it behooves the ministers of religion to inquire, 
with all humility and godly fear, on whose side lies the fault? 
Whether the theology which they expound is all that it should, 
be, or whether the reason of those who impugn it is all that it 
should be?" Kingsley pronouncing it the duty of the naturalist 
to find out the hwv of things, and of the natural theologian to find 
out the why, continues: 

" But if it be said, « After all there is no why, the doctrine of 

Xti l% the Development Hypothesis Sufficient," by Dr. James McCosh. The 



404 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

evolution by doing away with the theory of creation does away 
with that of final causes/ let us boldly answer, ' Not in the least.' 
We might accept all that Mr. Darwin, all that Prof. Huxley, &c, 
have written, and yet preserve our natural theology on the same 
basis as that on which Butler and Paley left it. That we should 
have to develop it I do not deny. Let us look rather with calm- 
ness and even with hope and good-will on these new theories ; 
they surely mark a tendency towards a more or less scriptural 
view of nature. Of old it was said of Him without whom noth- 
ing is made, ' My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.' Shall 
we quarrel with science if she should show how these words are 
true ? What, in one word, should we have to say but this, ' We 
know of old that God was so wise that He could make all things, 
but behold, He is so much more than even that, that he can make 
all things make themselves.' " 

Kingsley was wise in his generation. He well knew that 
theologians had always been worsted in their conflicts with sci- 
ence, and he would ward off the injury to religion that invariably 
follows the defeat of her teachers. Moreover, his acquaintance 
with natural science gave him an extraordinary advantage over 
such divines as Dr. Hodge, Herbert Morris, et id omne genus. 
Kingsley knew the force of the position taken by Prof. White, of 
Cornell University, in his " Warfare of Science," and the truth of 
which he has incontestably proved in that excellent and pithy 
work ; that " In all modern history, interference with science in 
the supposed interest of religion, no matter how conscientious 
such interference may have been, has resulted in the direst evils, 
both to religion and science, invariably. And on the other hand 
all untrammeled scientific investigation, no matter how dangerous 
to religion some of its stages may have seemed for the time to be, 
has invariably resulted in the highest good of religion and of 



Origin of Species. — The opponents of evolution sometimes 
quote a passage from Huxley, as follows, it is " my clear convic- 
tion that as the evidence nozv stands, it is not absolutely proven 
that a group of animals having all the characteristics exhibited 
by a species in nature, has ever been originated by selection 
whether artificial or natural." (" Lay Sermons," p. 295.) They 
evidently forget Huxley's demonstration of the evolution of the 
horse. "This demonstration does not admit of a doubt," says an 
excellent authority. Dr. McCosh, as already quoted, says " I do 
fully believe that those old horse forms were preparations for the 



1880.] The Critics of Evolution. 405 

horse now living." 1 " The evidence is conclusive," says Huxley, 
"as far as the fact of evolution is concerned, and if it can be 
proved, as the facts certainly do prove, that a complicated animal 
like the horse may have arisen by a gradual modification of a 
lower and less specialized form, there is surely no reason to think 
that any other animals have risen in a different way. The case is 
not isolated. Every new investigation into the Tertiary mamma- 
lian fauna brings fresh evidence tending to show how the rhinoce- 
ros, the pigs, the ruminants, have come about. Similar light is 
being thrown on the origin of Carnivora, and also in a less 
degree, on that of all the other groups of animals. * * The 
accurate information obtained in this department [that is regard- 
ing the origin of species], has put the fact of evolution beyond 
a doubt. Formerly the great reproach to the theory was, that no 
support was lent to it by the geological history of living things ; 
now whatever happens, the fact remains that the hypothesis is 
founded on the Jinn basis of paheontological evidence:' — Huxley. 
Prof. Cope has shown us the origin of the camel by evolutionary 
processes with as much clearness and force as that of the horse 
has been demonstrated: Now the above has quite a different 
ring from Huxley's early admission ! 

Hut says the uninformed and persistent doubter, " We know 
nothing of the method by which these four-toed horses became 
three-toed, or the three-toed passed into the two-toed, and finally 
into the one-toed, as we find them in our day. You have brought 
no evidence to show that they have had any genealogical relation. 
There is no evidence in modern time to show that any such 
changes have taken place." Not so fast, my friend, we may reply. 
There is abundant evidence to show that changes are taking place 
of a very striking character, some of which are wonderfully per- 
tinent to the case of the origin of the horse of our day. In the 
December number of the American Naturalist, p. 801, may be 
found the following, which should silence all discussion on this 
subject as final and conclusive. 

Prof. Cope, when at the meeting of the California Academy of 
Sciences, Nov. 3, 1879, "Called attention to a pair of feet of a 
deer belonging to the academy, which were sent from Mendocino 
county, Cal. Each of these possessed but one central toe and 

1 Is the Development Hypothesis Sufficient ? By Dr. James McCosh. In the 
Popular Science Monthly, Vol. X, pp. 86, too. 



406 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

hoof, instead of the usual pair. The speaker stated that the toes 
of the hinder feet were united throughout, and were so far devel- 
oped beyond the usual point attained by the ordinary ruminant. 
The toes of the fore limb were different, only one being continue! 
to the hoof all the others being rudimental." The bones belonged 
to the modern deer and were not found fossilized. 

But suppose the case rested on the evolution of the horse 
alone ? When Newton demonstrated the law of gravitation from 
atoms to apples and falling towers, what did he do ? He asserted 
universal gravitation ! Men came to him with objections and 
difficulties, some trivial and some serious. He answered some- 
what in this wise. " Gentlemen, some of your arguments are 
trivial, I would not answer them if I could; some are serious, 
just now I could not answer them if I would ; nevertheless gravi- 
tation is and it is universal." All the objections to evolution may 
not be answerable at present, nevertheless the philosopher is jus- 
tified in asserting that evolution is and that it is universal. 

Evolution a Grand Generalization. — Some doubting critics 
esteems us " far too much inclined to accept as ' grand generali- 
zation ' a bold and unproved theory and a theory which is hostile 
in its influences to the reception of the simple truths recorded for 
our profit in the Bible." What these simple truths may be they 
have not stated, and perhaps it were better they should refrain 
from the statement. I know of no more happy mode of turning 
the truths of evolution against the Bible, than that pursued by 
some perverse theologians of boldly asserting that they are 
antagonistic to the Scriptures. The truths of science, as we have 
seen in former discussions respecting geology, were regarded as 
antagonistic to the Bible, and anti-scientists were forced to admit 
the Bible in error or resort to the only avenue of escape, by con- 
sidering it wrongly translated or improperly understood. Would 
it not be wise to admit this may again be the case, rather than 
provoke opposition and the damaging criticism of evolutionary 

As respects the epithet " grand generalization," and the unproved 
character of the evolution doctrine, I have something more to 
say. Our critics have evidently not made themselves familiar 
with the profound philosophy of Herbert Spencer, who has based 
his wonderful works upon evolution, and is drawing therefrom his 
great system of scientific thought, the most original and most 



i88o.] The Critics of Evolution. 407 

important undertaking of the age. This system is solidly based 
upon the sciences of observation and induction, and is undoubt- 
edly the largest scheme of systematic philosophy. Herbert Spen- 
cer is author of the only complete systematic statement of the 
doctrine of evolution. Now this Herbert Spencer is described 
by the most competent judges to be a thinker of larger calibre 
than has hitherto appeared in England, as keen an analyst as is 
known in the history of philosophy, not excepting Aristotle or 
Kant. In the highest realms of philosophical investigation he 
stands equal to all his predecessors, and has taken his position in 
the foremost rank of living thinkers. Now if a man of the char- 
acter I have here outlined has taken evolution as a profound and 
all comprehensive generalization, we surely may be permited to 
accept it as such. Let us not, my good critic, resemble the 
ostrich that hides her head in the sand and imagines that because 
she does not see, therefore neither can the world around see. 

Our critics add that evolution is not proved. Do they suppose 
that such a host of men, eminent in science, besides the honored 
name above given, would stultify themselves by admitting its 
truth and proclaiming it to be an invaluable boon, had they not 
convinced themselves of its inherent worth by bringing to its 
investigation all the lights at their command ? Let us see what 
kind of minds entertain a firm belief that evolution has been 
proved to be a true philosophy. " It is Mr. Darwin's misfortune 

man living," says the learned Huxley. 

Sir Charles Lyell, after having for fifty years studied the sub- 
ject of life in connection with the past changes of the globe, and 
embodied all the older views in all his numerous works, at length 
in the tenth edition of his " Principles of Geology," abandoned the 
old ground as untenable, and adopted the views presented by 
Darwin. 

Dr. Asa Gray stated before the Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, that he had repeatedly attempted to catch Dar- 
win tripping, and had had referred to him many cases which he 
himself at the time considered opposed to the theory, but in every 
case had been forced to withdraw his objections. Thomas Mee- 
han made the same remark. He had often supposed Darwin 
m error, but had always found him right. 

Dr. Fritz M iiller, an eminent German naturalist, says he took 



4 o8 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

no small pains to detect contradictions among the inferences as to 
the class of Crustacea to which he had devoted himself, and 
found none furnished by Darwin's theory. 

Dr. Gegenbaur, author of "Outlines of Comparative Anatomy," 
which has been adopted as an authoritative text-book, has re-cast 
his work and embodied therein the Darwinian philosophy. He 
regards comparative anatomy as the touchstone of the truth of 

Darwin's name is always mentioned among the German natu- 
ralists with the profoundest reverence. His theory is now the 
common starting point of German science in many departments 
of knowledge that would seem at first to be farthest from natural 
history. The recent selection of Darwin as an associate of the 
French Academy of Science, the very highest honor that contem- 
porary wisdom can confer, mark emphatically the esteem with 
which he is regarded in France, long unwilling to admit the value 
of his labors. 

Whether evolution is to be recognized is then no longer an 
open question. " It is enough that it is a mental view that answers 
to a great reality, and is undoubtedly the broadest principle of 
unification in nature the human mind has yet reached." As to 
whether it is proved, depends upon the individual temperament 
and capacity of him who examines it. To some minds there 
exists no possibility of proving the truth or falsehood of any 
moral questions or of any physical problems, unless they can be 
brought to the test of mathematics. Minds of this character 
should confine themselves to their proper sphere, they are beyond 
instruction and are incorrigible. Evolution has been proved, as 
have many other problems in physical and natural science; the 
ablest experts are perfectly satisfied, why should the popular mind 
withhold its assent ? "I do not think that I am speaking too 
strongly when I say that there is now scarcely a single compe- 
tent general naturalist who is not prepared to accept some form 
of the doctrine of evolution," says Prof. C. Wyville Thomson 
in his Introduction to " The Depths of the Sea," an account of 
the general results of the dredging cruise of the Porcupine and 
Lightning, 1 868, 1 869 and 1 870, p. 9. 

It may interest our readers to know to what extent the doctrines 
of evolution are taught in our higher institutions of learning. At 
Harvard every professor whose- departments are connected witn 



1 88o.] The Critics of Evolution. 409 

biology, such as Gray, Whitney, A. Agassiz, Hagen, Goodale, Sha- 
ler, James, Farlow and Faxon, is an evolutionist, and man's physi- 
cal structure they regard as no real exception to the law. They are 
all said to be theists and all conservative men. At Johns Hop- 
kins University, Baltimore, which aims to be the most advanced 
in the country, evolution is held and taught. In the University 
of Pennsylvania all the biological professors are evolutionists, 
Leidy, Allen, Rothrock and Parker. At Yale, Michigan Univer- 
sity, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Princeton, the biologi- 
cal professors are all in the same category. There can scarcely an 
exception be found. Wherever there is a working naturalist he 
is sure to be, almost without an exception, an evolutionist. Prof. 
James D. Dana often adduced as an opponent, in his new "Text 
Book of Geology," p. 341, says: "Its progress [the system of 
nature] if by divine power should be, as zoological history attests, 
a development, an unfolding, an evolution." " We challenge," 
says an ex-president of the American association for the advance- 
ment of Science, " to find three working naturalists of repute in 
the United States— or two (we can find one in Canada)— that is 
not an evolutionist. I should regard a teacher of science who 
denied the truth of evolution as being as incompetent as one who 
doubted the Copernican theory." {Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 
xvi, pp. 558-559.) " It is now regarded, among the active workers 
in science, as a waste of time to discuss the truth of evolution. 
The battle on this point has been fought and won." 

hvolution demonstrated by the Changes going on around us. — 
Those of our critical friends to whom evolution is not to their 
understandings established on a basis of demonstration, I would 
refer to a very instructive paper republished in the supplement to 
the Popular Science Monthly, Vol. xv, entitled " Animals and their 
Environments." They will there find indubitable proof that cer- 
tain animals were not originally created as they now exist, and 
that their surroundings have greatly modified their forms, and 
the doctrine of special creation demolished. Among others, 
the changes that take place in the flounder and other flat fishes 
are described, and the manner in which these fishes, originally 
formed symmetrically like others of their congeners, with eyes on 
both sides of their heads, swimming upright, and colored on the 
back and white on their under side, become, through want of a 
swimming bladder to preserve them in an upright position obliged 



410 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

to turn upon their sides and to descend to the bottom of the water. 
Here they undergo a metamorphosis, which is a wonderful in- 
stance of the manner in which nature modifies animals and adapts 
them to new conditions. The flounder thus placed at the mercy 
of its environment, begins to change color on the under side 
which becomes whiter from the absence of light, while the upper 
side becomes darker from its continuous action. The eyes were 
originally on opposite sides of the head, as in normal fishes, but 
the eye which was created upon the side which is now under- 
most, gradually moves around and takes its place upon the upper 
side, thus presenting the appearance, familiar to any one who has 
seen the turbot or flounder, of an animal with both eyes on the 
same side of its head. 

They will there find, also, a notice of the transformation of the 
North American axolotl (Siredon) into a completely different 
animal, with which it was not known to have near relationship, 
and already placed in a different genus. They will also see an 
explanation of the manner in which the Alpine salamander has 
probably changed from an egg-bearing to an ovo-viviparous 
animal in places too dry for the production of animals having 
gills in their earlier stages, by causing the eggs to hatch within 
the mother, and the young to pass their gill stage within the fluids 
of her body instead of in water, as do the young of other newts 
or salamanders. 

There is an excellent lesson in evolution to be found in the his- 
tory of the Sacculina, which is a parasite upon the hermit crab. 
This illustrates the manner in which degradation is brought 
about, for this is often as striking a process of evolution as is 
advancement to higher forms. This Sacculina, as it is found on 
hermit crabs, is a sort of cylindrical mass with a bundle of roots 
growing from one side ; sense it has none, limbs none, organs 
none, and hardly the vestige of organs and only the faintest traces 
of mouth and intestines. It is an embryo but not far enough 
advanced to show what it is to be. Listen to its history. This 
stru:tureless lump began life as a little barnacle crab, swimming 
in the ocean, having a symmetrical body, three pairs of legs and 
one eye, and bearing a close resemblance to the embryos of all 
crabs in this state, which is called the " nauplius stage," or that 
first to develop out of the egg. Very soon our nauplius barnacle 
leaves off roving and attaches himself to the soft hind parts of a 



1 88a] The Critics of Evolution. 41 1 

relative, the hermit crab, and begins to suck the juices of his host. 
He soon loses his eye, then his limbs, then the segmentation of 
his body, then his head, his intestines, his everything that seems 
to constitute him an animal. He grows too lazy and sinks too 
low even to eat. Around his mouth develop a bundle of roots 
which spread through the soft body of the hermit crab as roots 
of a plant through the ground, and he sinks to the level of a 
mere automatic existence. Now his host, the hermit crab, and 
this degraded Sacculina started alike, and in the long ages, before 
the hermit had come to be what he is, the common ancestor of all 
crabs, wore, in maturity, the form of this parasite in its nauplius 
stage. Parasitism has pulled the Sacculina down to utter debase- 
Thus creation advances and recedes, and numberless instances of 
both processes could be found in nature, for description of some 
of which I would refer to " Life History of our Planet," by Wm. 
D. Gunning, and "The History of Creation," by Ernst Haeckel. 

The above instances of actual transformation among hundreds 
that could be adduced, the result of their surroundings, changes 
brought about by changed conditions, must give our critics rea- 
son to pause before they again attempt to deny that Darwinism 
can bring to its defence the " hard logic of facts " and sound 
induction. 

We have occasionally heard the remark, that it is degrading to 
the self-respect of man to consider himself descended from a long 
line of animals, beginning with the polyp or ascidian. Let us 
consider that in evolution we have no new truth, but an old truth 
in a new form, the evolution of the individual by a slow process 
from a microscopic germ. Everybody knows that this is the pro- 
cess of development through which every one of us has passed. 
Yet it has never interfered with our belief in an intelligent Creator. 
When asked who made us, we say " God made us." But how 
were we made? The only true answer must be, by a process of 
evolution, a slow process of evolution from a microscopic sphere 
of unorganized protoplasm, the germ cell. This knowledge does 
not lessen our respect for the dignity of man, why then should 
it be different in the case of the origin of our species and of all 
species by evolution. 1 

views of students of biology, ,mJ the recent demonstrations of the stages through 



412 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

The Struggle for the Liberty of Science.— To those who are 
acquainted with the history of physical discovery, and the great 
struggle for the liberty of science, the conflict waged with evolu- 
tion by theological error seems but a continuation of the struggle 
that has lasted for so many centuries. " Unfortunately, some 
good men started, centuries ago, with the idea that purely scien- 
tific investigation is unsafe, that theology must intervene, and 
thus began this great war." Among the leading innovations 
advanced by science, there are few indeed that have not been 
opposed by theologians. The idea that the earth is a globe was 
pronounced fraught with danger to Scripture— that is the popular 
interpretation — and the great majority of the fathers of the 
church denied that a man could be saved who believed the earth 
to be round and inhabited on its opposite sides ! It was not until 
Magalhaens sailed around the earth, that theologians subsided. 
The Copernican theory of the heavens, now universally accepted, 
was solemnly condemned, and to read the book of Copernicus 
was to risk damnation. H. Bruno was hunted from land to land 
and finally burned alive because of its advocacy. It was not 
established until the telescope of Galileo confirmed its truth, and 
even then, many either declared it impious to look into the tele- 
scope of Galileo, or if they saw the satellites of Jupiter, denounced 
them as delusions of the devil ! The story of the unfortunate 
Galileo, and his sorry recantation of the truth, is known to all in- 
telligent readers. 

" There has been raised the same cry in all ages — the same we 
hear in this age — for curbing scientific studies." The anatomist 
Vesalius was hunted to death because he dissected the human 
body. Theology denounced in sermons " the dangerous and sin- 
ful practice of inoculation " for the small-pox, and Jenner's vac- 
cinnation was declared as " bidding Heaven defiance." Even the 
use of chloroform in our own day, for theologians have not 
learned wisdom, was, from the pulpit, declared " contrary to Holy 
Writ ! " 






It is difficult to realize that within our own memory a similar 
battle raged between the advocates of what was called the " sacred 
theory of the earth " and the views of geologists, and that anath- 
ema, styled arguments, were used in the nineteenth century simi- 
lar to those hurled at science in the middle ages. In our own 
day geology has been declared " not a subject of lawful inquiry," 
and denounced as a " dark art, dangerous and disreputable," as 
" infernal artillery," and as " an awful evasion of the testimony of 

There have been many other battle fields, equally instructive, 
in which theologians have opposed the progress of the age and 
blindly fought against the good of mankind. Fanning mills were 
at one time denounced as contrary to the text, "the wind bloweth 
where it listeth" and as leaguing with Satan, who is " the prince 
of the powers of the air," and as sufficient cause for excommuni- 
cation from the Scotch church. 2 The railroad and the telegraph 
have been denounced from a noted pulpit as " heralds of Anti- 
Christ!!" 

But perhaps the most ridiculous proposal to prove that " it is 
supreme folly to talk of accommodating Christianity to Darwin- 
ism," is that announced in the Chmrh Journal, by a reviewer of 
Dr. Hodge's book against Darwinism, which is as follows: "If 
we have all, men and monkeys, women and baboons, oysters and 
eagles, all 'developed' from an original monad and germ, then 
St. Paul's grand deliverance, ' All flesh is not the same flesh. 
There is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts, another of 
fishes and another of birds ; there are bodies celestial and bod- 
ies terrestrial ' — may be still very grand in our funeral service but 
very untrue to fact." Oh sad ! sad ! that any man supposed to 
be sane could give forth such an utterance as argument ! What 
good can possibly result to mankind from the opposition of 
ignorant men who stand upon high places " screaming in wrath 
at the advance of science." In every case this ecclesiastical war, 
during its continuance, has tended to drive multitudes of thought- 
ful men away from religion, and theologians have to answer for 



the 



4 I4 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

won for religion— that thereby was infinitely increased the know- 
ledge of the power and goodness of God." " Let then the war- 
fare of science be changed," says Prof. A. D. White, from whom 
we have derived several of our illustrations. " Let it be a war- 
fare in which religion and science shall stand together as allies. 
Let the fight be for truth of every kind, against falsehood of every 
kind, for the living kernel of religion rather than the dead husks 
of sect and dogma, and the great powers whose warfare has 
brought so many sufferings, shall at last join in ministering 
through earth, God's richest blessings." 1 

Conclusion. — Want of a scientific habit of mind is the source 
of much of the prevalent misconception as to what constitutes 
adequate proof in natural science. 

In order to understand the doctrine of descent, or the theory 
of evolution, it is indispensable that the inquirer possess a gen- 
eral knowledge of biological phenomena. It must be evident 
that a certain degree of general culture, and especially a philo- 
sophical education, is requisite to enable one to comprehend the 
individual and palaeontological history of development. This 
preparation unfortunately many persons in our day do not con- 
sider at all necessary. " One hears hundreds of half educated 
persons pass a final judgment upon it, although they acknowledge 
that they know nothing either of botany or of zoology, of com- 
parative anatomy, of paleontology or of embryology." Hence it 
happens, as Huxley well says, 1 that "most writings published 

written."— Quoted by Ilaeckel in his " History of Creation," Vol. 
H. P- 346. 

Among many recent opinions expressive of approval of the 
doctrines of evolution, the following may properly conclude this 
article. 

Prof. Stanley Jevons, one of the clearest thinkers of our day, 
and the master spirit who has proved that John Stuart Mill's 
great work on " Logic" is essentially illogical, admits that Her- 
bert Spencer has made a new epoch in philosophic thought. 
When speaking of Spencer's " Data of Ethics," which is the cul- 
mination of his philosophy, Prof. Jevons asserts that "Spencer 
has pointed out that the universe is one deep-laid framework for 



Cornell University. N. Y., Applel 



the production of beneficent contrivai 
built scheme working towards goodn 
cer calls upon us to admit the inven: 
' machine' which is the most comprehensive of all machines, be- 
cause it is ever engaged in inventing beneficial inventions ad infini- 
tum!' " We must accept the philosophy," says Jevons, "if it be 
true, and for my part I do so without reluctance." "According 
to Spencer," continues this admirable critic, "we are the latest 
manifestation of an all-prevailing tendency towards the good, the 
happy, and that we are no lump of protoplasm but the creature 
of a Creator." — Contemporary Review, Nov., 1879. Let it be 
remembered that as the sagacious Dr. McCosh expresses it, 
" Herbert Spencer is to a large extent the author and is certainly 
the organizer and the embodiment, personification and expression 
of development." — Princeton Revieio. " Theologians have ever been 
free in the application of damnatory expletives to scientific ideas 
which do not conform to their standard," but it is very pleasant 
to turn from denunciation and anathema to the language of The 
Nonconformist of November 5th, a journal of the English ortho- 
dox dissenters, and there read the following opinion of Spencer's 
"Data of Ethics," his last production, and the culmination of his 
system of philosophy. Speaking of the glimpses it affords 
into the future which its author anticipates, The Nonconformist 
remarks, "No loftier view, we venture to say, was ever enter- 
tained." " The optimism of Mr. Herbert Spencer is as pure as 
that of the most spiritual seers of the past, and it involves as 
radical a change in human nature as that demanded by the New 

ethical principles.' The fact that they are Christian in their 
essence is rather a hindrance to their acceptance, since conven- 
tional Christianity practically repudiates the ideal morality of its 



We nevei 
the embodi 

dox people 


■ expected to li 

rith applause i 
, but if the rt 


1 


see the name of Herbert Spencer, 
n and expression of development 
reat religious convention of ortho- 
of the London Times of October 


occurred! 


trusted, this extrao 
In that convention 


rdinary ph 

the Rev. 1 


iW. Prit 


n has actually 
chard gave an 


eloquent an 
Recent Scie 


d powerful ad 
ntific Researcl 


Th 


on "The 
1 which th 


c doctrii 


3 Benefits from 
,e of evolution 



416 The Critics of Evolution. [June, 

was assumed as true, and as in entire harmony with all essential 
religious truth. He was followed by the Rev. Prof. Watkins, of 
St. Augustine College, Canterbury, who- spoke on the same sub- 
ject, and said " he felt sure that when the history of the century 
came to be written from the standpoint of the future, the name of 
Herbert Spencer would be found in the very first rank of English 
thinkers." "These expressions indicate a very marked progress 
in religious liberality," says the editor of the Popular Science 
Review of January, 1880. 

Prof. James D. Dana in his new " Text Book of Geology," p. 
346, expresses his opinion on this wise: " That the system of life 
exhibits so perfect harmony and so complete oneness of law in 
its several lines and successions, that it may be truly called a sys- 
tem of development or evolution, whatever the method by which 
it was carried forward," and that, " It is also certain that science, 
whatever it may accomplish in the discovery of causes or meth- 
ods of progress, can take no steps toward setting aside a Creator. 
Far from such a result, it clearly proves that there has been not 
only an omnipotent hand to create and to sustain physical forces 
in action, but an all-wise and beneficent Spirit to sH-me all events 
towards a spiritual end." — Ibid, p. 351. 

Thus it is easily shown that the opinions of men disqualified 
by age or a conservative spirit, interested prejudice or enfeebled 
faculties, should not be regarded when opposed to new doctrines 
in science; that those who have devoted themselves to science 
have, whenever free from the prejudices of education, heartily 
embraced the new views ; and finally that even those who have 
been regarded as the ablest defenders of the truths of revelation 
when enlightened by acquaintance with science and penetrated 
by its spirit, become generous defenders and fearless advocates of 
evolution and absolve it from all charges of atheism and want of 
scientific basis. 



1 8 So.] Supposed Dimorphism of Lithospermum longifloi 



T 



(Z. ANGUSTIFOLIUM MICHX. OF GRAY'S SYNOPTICAL 
BY PROF. C. E. BESSEY, M.SC, PH.D. 

HE plant under consideration is a common herbac 



of the prairies and great plains of North America. In 
the latter part of April and during the month of May it produces 
flowers with bright yellow salver-shaped {Jiypocrahrimorphous) 
corollas, whose tubes are about thirty mm. (one and one-fifth 
inch) long, and from two to three mm. in diameter. About the 
first of June, in Central Iowa, these large flowers suddenly dis- 
appear, and from this time forward until the autumn frosts, they 
produce only small cleistogamous flowers. 1 The corolla lobes of 
the latter cohere somewhat, and remain closed, and in this condi- 
tion the total length of the corolla is from five to seven mm., the 
tube itself being no more than three to five mm. long. Both 
kinds of flowers produce seeds, and I have not observed any dif- 
ference in their relative fertility, although there are actually at 
least ten times as many seeds produced during the season by the 
small flowers as by the large ones, for the reason, however, that 
there are many more of the former flowers than of the latter. Of 
the small flowers I will have somewhat to say at another time ; 



the anthers are higher than the stigma, while in others they are 
lower, and unless careful measurements are made, one is led to 
consider this as a case of dimorphism of the sexual organs (the 
heterogenous dimorphism of Dr. Gray, and heterostyly of Hilde- 
brand, Darwin and others), a supposition which is rendered still 
: probable by the well-marked dimorphism of the flo 



the nearly allied ' Lithosptrmum cancscens Lehm. 


However, after 


making a large number of very careful measurer 


aents, I have no 


hesitation in saying that in the plants a; they < 


jeeur in Central 


Iowa there is no dimorphism whatever, but that 


igth of the stvle 


and of the corolla tube, and that upon the varyii 


lg length of the 


latter depends the varying position of the stamei 




In the following table' the flowers of the first 


ten plants were 



1 8 Supposed Dimorphism of Lithospermum longijloi 







c^frube: 


" Height^ 


Hu>htof~ 




i 

7 

18 
20 

23 

29 

33 
34 
35 

37 
38 

41 

4l 


35.0 mm. 
3i-8 ■' 

32.5 ;; 
35.7 " 

S3 : 

24.5 «« 

30.0 " 

35-o " 
32.0 « 

31-6 « 

30.0 «« 

35o " 
32.4 " 

25.4 « 


1? :: 

31.2 1| 

5 :: 

24.8 " 

26.3 « 

23-7 1' 
30.2 «« 

23.2 || 
23.6 || 

25.0 || 

Si \ 

24.0 " 

25.4 « 

ill : 

31.0 || 

20^8 " 

23.6 II 

24^8 " 


26.0 mm. 










25-4 " 








Plant No. 2" WWW. ...WW. 


15-8 " 

25-7 || 
25.8 « 




«■* No -3 


17.0 " 




24.0 " 

25.4 » 


















Plant^No.5 


£ : 


Plant No. 6 


28.4 " 


Plant No. 7 

Plant No. sW I'.'.'.'.'.'.'. .".*!!."". 


30.3 " 
















264 « 






"•1* N«. 9 


29.2 « 
24.4 II 


plam No.* \°: :::::::::::;:::: 


Plant No. 12 


S : 


Phnt .No.i 3 



2 



88o.] Supposed Dimorphism of Lithospemum longiflorum. 419 




r- 



~y-i 



S^ 



Z£L 



-» . ■ — H^g- 



^ 






420 Supposed Dim ttsm i rum. [June, 

sented in a diagrammatic form (see Plate). In this the length of 
the corolla tubes is indicated by the length of the vertical line 
measured from the bottom line to the mark -, the height of the 
anther by o, and of the stigma by X. For greater distinctness 
the similar points in all the flowers of each plant are connected 
by lines ; the fine line thus indicates the variation in length of 
corolla tubes, the heavy one of the position of the anthers, and 
the dotted one, of the stigmas. The scale is magnified three 

The remarkably short style of flower No. 32, bore a distinctly 
two-lobed stigma, which under a lens was seen to be papillated. 
I think it was functional. In the case of flower No. 51, there is 
some doubt as to whether or not the stigma was functional ; the 
shortness of the style may have been due to injury. In all other 
cases there were no reasons for supposing the stigmas func- 
tionless. 

As it is well known that in cases of heterogonous dimorphism the 
pollen grains of the two forms differ in size, I made many careful 
measurements of the pollen of flowers from seven different plants, 
and found considerable variation in size. The grains when dry 
are consi